Concrete pump

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Because it is a fluid, concrete can be pumped to where it is needed. Here, a concrete transport truck is feeding concrete to a concrete pumper, which is pumping it to where a slab is being poured.

A concrete pump is a tool for transferring liquid concrete by pumping. There are two main classifications of concrete pumps.

The first type of concrete pump is attached to a truck. It is known as a truck-mounted boom pump because it uses a remote-controlled articulating robotic arm (called a boom) to place concrete with pinpoint accuracy. Boom pumps are used on most of the larger construction projects as they are capable of pumping at very high volumes and because of the labor saving nature of the robotic arm.

The second main type of concrete pump is mounted on a trailer, and it is commonly referred to as a trailer pump or line pump. This pump requires steel or rubber concrete placing hoses to be manually attached to the outlet of the machine. Those hoses are linked together and lead to wherever the concrete needs to be placed. Trailer pumps normally pump concrete at lower volumes than boom pumps and are used for smaller volume concrete placing applications such as swimming pools, sidewalks, and single family home concrete slabs.

There are also skid-mounted and rail mounted concrete pumps, but these are uncommon and only used on specialized jobsites such as mines and tunnels.