Los Angeles is home to an innovative cityscape that has the potential to boast corresponding innovation in the materials that make up its built environment. Within the concrete industry, commercial concrete contractors in Los Angeles are having an exciting conversation about emerging research into the application of sustainable materials in shotcrete. What is shotcrete?
Shotcrete is a unique building material that is known for its ability to meet diverse concrete placement needs and for its strength and durability which, when skillfully placed, is identical to that of traditionally-placed concrete. Shotcrete is both a form of concrete and placement method that relies on a particular concrete mix and concrete pumping technology that pressurizes and throws the mixture at high velocity onto the placement surface. Due to this pneumatic placement method, shotcrete requires significantly less formwork than traditional placement methods and also doesn’t require the same concrete vibration techniques to ensure proper consolidation and compaction. What are new sustainable materials? By its nature, shotcrete is often chosen as a sustainable building option as it can require fewer concrete equipment processes and less construction materials such as formwork for large concrete slabs. There are, however, further innovations in shotcrete that can enhance its sustainability, such as several recycled materials that are being tested as viable cement and aggregate substitutes in the mixture. Utilizing post-consumer waste materials such as glass, plastic, and rubber has the dual impact of diverting waste materials from landfills and reducing energy usage in the extraction and production of virgin concrete materials. How can they be used? A large percentage of used glass bottles end up in landfills, but this waste material can find a second life as a cement replacement in dry shotcrete mixes. Rubber truck tires are consumed in high quantities every year, and while currently there are not many methods for their reuse, they can be shredded and powderized to be used as aggregate. Much of the plastic that is recycled does get utilized for various recycling purposes, but for the plastic that is deemed unusable for these purposes, it may instead function as an aggregate substitute. For all these innovations in post-consumer waste material reuse in shotcrete, there are still several considerations to explore, such as the way the recycled materials alter the behavior of the concrete as compared to concrete made with standard materials. Skilled shotcrete contractors in Los Angeles and across the industry are keen to observe what will happen in this emerging topic within the larger conversation of sustainable concrete production and construction. The Conco Companies’ mission is to be the best supplier of concrete services in the Western U.S. and to bring expertise and incomparable quality to each project. We continue to upgrade and expand our facilities to better serve the growing market for commercial, educational, parking structures, public works projects, and other development. Contact us to learn more about the services from one of the most trusted concrete contractors in Los Angeles. Comments are closed.
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