Transit Mixed Concrete

Transit Mixed Concrete

While ready mixed concrete can be delivered to the point of placement in a variety of ways, the overwhelming majority of it is brought to the construction site in truck-mounted, rotating drum mixers. Truck mixers have a revolving drum with the axis inclined to the horizontal. Inside the shell of the mixer drum are a pair of blades or fins that wrap in a helical (spiral) configuration from the head to the opening of the drum. This configuration enables the concrete to mix when the drum spins in one direction and causes it to discharge when the direction is reversed.

To load, or charge, raw materials from a transit mix plant or centrally mixed concrete into the truck, the drum must be turned very fast in the charging direction. After the concrete is loaded and mixed, it is normally hauled to the job site with the drum turning at a speed of less than 2 rpm.

The traditional truck-mixer has discharged concrete at the rear of the truck. Front discharge units, however, are rapidly becoming more popular with contractors. The driver of the front discharge truck can drive directly onto the site and can mechanically control the positioning of the discharge chute without the help of contractor personnel.

Currently, because of weight laws, the typical truck mixer is a 7 to 8.5 m3. The drums are designed with a rated maximum capacity of 63%  of the gross drum volume as a mixer and 80% of the drum volume as an agitator. Generally, ready mixed concrete producers, load their trucks with a quantity at or near the rated mixer capacity. Fresh concrete is a perishable product that may undergo slump loss depending on temperature, time to the delivery point on the job site, and other factors.