SED 2007: Mixing with the in crowd

This year, speed and safety are high on the agenda, with advances in screeding, formwork, pre-cast and surface preparation reflecting this trend. Indeed innovations combined with ease-of-use are themes running throughout the exhibits, with a host of manufacturers showing both enhanced and new products.

Mixing

Returning to the Concrete Zone will be Reimer Europe, giving visitors the opportunity to assess the latest technology added to its volumetric concrete mixer. According to the company's general manager, Bob Murdoch, concrete contractors will be able to add value to their products using additives such as polypropylene fibres. These can be mixed in using a new feature on its volumetric mixer. The machines also feature electric vibrators and an ergonomic design, reducing the need for the driver to climb.

Utranazz will highlight the ergonomic and technological benefits of its new self-loading concrete mixer. Following its appointment as exclusive dealer of the Carmix range of concrete mixers and dumpers, the company will be exhibiting the Carmix 3.5T4, a 4x4 vehicle fitted with a front operators cab. The off-road machine can load, mix, produce and discharge up to 130m3 of concrete per day, while coping with tough terrain and gradients of up to 30°.

Offering flexibility combined with accuracy, the Armcon Cementech range of static volumetric concrete mixers will be alongside the company's truck-mounted volumetric machines. The static volumetric machines have a precise dispensing system, accurate within ±1% of volume delivered, and they can be shut off without any wastage. At any time during the run the mix can be changed, enabling different mix patterns to be delivered without the need to return to a batching plant.

Among the tools Belle will present at SED will be the Promix high-torque stirrer for mixing plaster. While plaster is traditionally mixed by hand, Belle says that this often provides the wrong consistency. The stirrer comes with paddles in 160mm or 120mm diameters. Also exhibited on the Belle stand will be advances in concrete finishing in the form of the Pro-trowel. The tool has adjustable handles, padded bars and a manually operated clutch. It has blades of either 900mm or 1,200mm and enables trowelling right up to walls.

Having successfully explained the benefits of its volumetric mixer at last years show, Xact will return with its mixer mobile batching plant. The company claims that it is the only truly modular-build, lightweight volumetric concrete mixer on the market. For ease-of-maintenance all the mixer's main components can be easily unbolted for service and replacement. Sizes range from 1.5m3 to 10m3, with even larger custom units.

Concrete handling and crane attachments will be exhibited by Whitney Engineering with a range of Secatol equipment, which is suitable for both construction sites and pre-cast works. Among the concrete handling equipment, the TUC centre discharge column skip is designed to enable concrete to be poured into narrow shuttering or columns. The skips are fitted with an integral gate to ensure continuity of concrete flow and a 200mm diameter, 3m-long discharge hose, which prevents segregation.

Making its SED debut, Muldoon Transport Systems will launch a brand new rear-steer cement mixer trailer featuring a new traction system which, the company believes, has never been seen on any product of its kind. In fact, the model is so new that it is still in production and no other details are available until the show.

Also on the Muldoon stand will be a rear-steer block trailer which, along with the cement mixer trailer, incorporates the company's positive rear-steer system. It offers enhanced manoeuvrability and minimises wear on both tyres and road surfaces.

Screeding

After being shortlisted for last year's SED Awards for Excellence with its CopperHead S-9210, Somero will use SED 2007 to launch its HoseHog - a product designed to aid the movement of concrete hoses on site and minimise injury caused by manual handling. The HoseHog is a powerful 9.7kW mechanical hose mover, designed to pick up and move the rubber hose around the pour site. Capable of moving four- or five-inch hoses, the unit combines modern technology with old-fashioned horsepower and removes the need for the labour-intensive task of dragging concrete hose on elevated deck or ground floor slabs. In independent trials, the HoseHog has allowed concrete to be poured faster - facilitating a 20% to 30% rise in productivity.

Topp and Screed is also bringing some innovation to SED. The company will launch its topping spreader TS5000 and new laser screed TS250. Unfortunately, no details of the new products are being made available before the event so make sure you go along to witness this world-first viewing.

Demonstrations from Speedcrete this year include the Bunyan Striker. The roller screed levels concrete by oscillating in the opposite direction to the operators travel. Capable of working on slopes and inclines, the unit has achieved screeds of 60° and, with Speedcrete's conical tube design, it is able to place a crown to the surface of the concrete. The machine has been employed on the high-speed link from Brussels to Amsterdam as well as many major tolerance floor projects in the UK.

Speedcrete will also exhibit a roller screed designed for smaller jobs - the Rotoscreed. Mechanically driven, meaning less can go wrong, the unit is small, portable and lightweight, with tube lengths up to 6.4m it is suitable for small pours and metal decking jobs.

SED 2007 will see the official launch of Massolutions, a new company set up by Beresford Flooring. Massolutions will exhibit a new dispensing tub, developed as a lightweight plastic alternative to steel concrete skips. The new company has also devised hole covers that are plastic, bright yellow, antislip and simple to install (see SED Awards for Excellence, p6-8).

Able to pump floor screed up to 140m, Imer Direct will be showing its full range of material pumping, transfer and spraying machines, from the small 50 to the mover 270DR. Also on display will be the BIO 400 and BRO 500 small concrete production mixers.

Formwork and falsework

Faresin Building Division will be travelling from Italy to show the SED audience its expertise in modular formwork solutions. Its moulds can be assembled in any direction to make up the shape of the wall to be realised. The formworks are joined by an aligning clamp or pin and the company is confident that it will remain completely stable throughout the casting process.

Supplier of formwork and scaffolding systems, Peri will be exhibiting its Peri Up range of modular system scaffold. Designed to be safely erected behind an advancing guardrail, it is available as a core kit of parts that can cater for falsework, temporary roofs, stair towers, shoring, maintenance towers and scaffolds.

Pre-cast

Rockets will return to Rockingham this year as Milbury launches its Rocket wall units and Karapace system. The self-shedding Rocket wall is suitable for forming storage bunkers or division walls for the storage of aggregates, soil or waste materials.

Jackson Engineering also returns this year with its heavy lift loading frame after its introduction at SED 2006. The product won the SED Award for Excellence in the Concrete Innovation category. It allows a driver to drop off 20t of concrete on site without any assistance, even in built-up areas. The loading frame can also be adapted to link to a production line where pre-cast concrete can be loaded directly.

Surface preparation

Trelawny SPT will show a range of surface preparation equipment including Vibro-Lo models that reduce vibration levels for the operator. The company has pioneered the use of tool and vacuum systems as an alternative to blast cleaning.

Wacker will be demonstrating improved safety through the use of its IRFU poker vibrator, which is now available with a 65mm head.

Designed to produce absolute floor flatness, Hydrostatic 'Super Trowels' are designed for complete accuracy, says Multiquip. The hydraulic trowels feature a retardant spray system which provides uniform coverage of the slab surface as well as proportional hydraulic steering, allowing improved responsiveness with minimal effort on the part of the operator.