transporting concrete off road

jbarker855 · Dec 19, 2012

Hello all-
I am in the early stages of planning on building a pole barn, and just getting some of the logistics sorted out. It will have to have a concrete floor. Barn size will be about 30 x 80, with a 10 foot wide porch down the long axis of the building. Probably looking on the order of 40 yards of concrete. Where I live, my driveway that leads to the build site crosses a narrow bridge. It is 8 feet wide and spans 90 feet. It is an old flatbed train car. It is iffy if it could support a cement truck. Even if is was strong enough, the lay of the land dictates rather sharp turns before and after the bridge so that a longer vehicle like a full size cement truck would not be able to get a straight enough shot to get on the bridge. Just to give a better idea, UPS trucks cross no problem. I have had 35,000 pounds (full size loaded moving truck) on the bridge, so I know it can support that much.
I live in a valley, and vehicles besides an ATV or bulldozer would not be able to get through the steep terrain any other way than the driveway which crosses bridge.
I have thought of 2 ways to get the concrete back. One is to use power buggies (Quick ride-on concrete buggy and material mover - The Power Buggy). They have a capacity of about 3/4 yard, so this would mean about 50 trips across bridge. Bridge is about 1/8 mile from build site. Another would be to get a loader (small enough to fit over bridge) with a big bucket to move the concrete. I will be hiring a concrete guy to do this, but I just wanted to have this thought out before talking to them.
Any thoughts? Better ideas? Helicopter transport?
Thanks!
-Jay

TRR · Dec 19, 2012

Your concrete guy should have some ideas as well. That 1/8 mile is 660 feet. Check with the pumper truck guys to see if they can pump concrete that far. What it sounds like you really need is just a way to get the wet concrete across the bridge. How about an empty concrete truck, or dump truck, or ?? stationed on the far side and the concrete trucks coming in stay on the road side and off load via (a pumper, or ??) into the empty truck which then hauls it to the barn site. There are also trucks that arrive with the sand and gravel in separate hoppers and mix it on site. They're intended for small batches, but maybe light enough empty to cross the bridge. Have the sand and gravel stockpiled near the barn and load the truck there.

Let us know what you decide to do.

aczlan · Dec 19, 2012

Another option might be a concrete pump. 1/8 mile works to 660 feet. I dont know how much it would cost to rent a pump with 750ish feet of pipe, bit it can be done, they pump concrete up skyscrapers and they are a lot more than that straight up.

Aaron Z

sdkubota · Dec 19, 2012

The pumping is a good idea but I would guess the front end loader bucket and/or power buggy would be the most economical options. 50 trips might sound like alot but really isn't that big of deal. Just try to stagger the delivery times of the concrete (2nd truck, etc.) so it isn't sitting on the truck too long before you can begin placing it.

RDrancher · Dec 19, 2012

A line pump shouldn't have a problem getting the concrete to the site. Back in the day I did a job on a golf course using two pumps, one pumping to another. Its been so long ago that I don't remember the distance, but it was pretty dang far!

aczlan · Dec 19, 2012

sdkubota said:
The pumping is a good idea but I would guess the front end loader bucket and/or power buggy would be the most economical options. 50 trips might sound like alot but really isn't that big of deal. Just try to stagger the delivery times of the concrete (2nd truck, etc.) so it isn't sitting on the truck too long before you can begin placing it.

A concrete company will start charging you extra if the truck takes more than ~20 mins to unload due to your slowness.
A concrete pump such as this one: Schwing / Stationary Pumps / SP 305 can pump 800 feet horizontally

Aaron Z

radioman · Dec 19, 2012

Have you had your local town highway supervisor or DOT bridge inspect come out and "inspect" your personally owned bridge for a penny for his thoughts? I have no idea if they would do this kind of a service, but asking couldnt hurt. The worse they can do is say no and sorry. the best case is they let you know who you can contact or they might do it for your safety.

aczlan · Dec 19, 2012

radioman said:
Have you had your local town highway supervisor or DOT bridge inspect come out and "inspect" your personally owned bridge for a penny for his thoughts? I have no idea if they would do this kind of a service, but asking couldnt hurt. The worse they can do is say no and sorry. the best case is they let you know who you can contact or they might do it for your safety.

Might not hurt to have the local FD take a look at it as well. They might not cross it in an emergency without having looked at it first...

Aaron Z

wroughtn_harv · Dec 19, 2012

I've used both and the buggy is the faster of the two. For a monolithic pour like you are wanting I would want to have two buggies going. The cost of the second one would be absorbed by the time charges. There is one caveat though, buggies suck on rough terrain. You can go faster than you can with a skid steer but they will also hang a ninety degree unexpectedly if they hit any bump just wrong. I'm talking a ninety that will throw you off the buggy if you are at speed. If the machine is still upright it will automatically stop and look back at you like the donkey you rode as a kid would do. Have the same snicker on its face too.