Raising the Environmental Bar on Concrete Pumping

The Conco Companies have been busy working on the new Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles, which is slated to become one of the tallest buildings west of the Mississippi. Before the start of the project, we were asked how we will pump concrete 650 feet horizontally and then 1,125 feet vertically to reach the upper levels of the skyscraper? Additionally, since we would be pumping concrete higher than was ever pumped in Los Angeles, could this be done without generating air pollution or creating too much noise for the adjacent office buildings?

Conco’s unique solution was to purchase and use a new state-of-the art electric pump. This high pressure, high powered pump is the only electric pump of this size being used on the West Coast by the concrete pumping industry. Since it is electric, this pump allows both the project owner and the contractor to meet the guidelines imposed by the Southern California Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) for reduced emissions.

Another benefit of the electric pump is that it generates much less noise than a traditional diesel powered pump.   This is important as the pump must sit less than 30 feet from an occupied office building, which makes it less disruptive to the neighboring businesses.

The new pump will be the primary workhorse in pumping concrete throughout the course of the project and it will be used to pump concrete all the way to the top of the skyscraper. We are anticipating that we will pump more than 100,000 yards of concrete through our electric pump to complete the Wilshire Grand project.

Conco is a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States. We have built our reputation with superior concrete formwork, reinforcing, place and finish, shotcrete and other ancillary services that benefit from our vast experience. Our concrete projects include commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects and highways.