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Volumetric Mixer Trucks Work Great with Shotcrete & Gunite

Impact Shotcrete Pool Construction Using Volumetric Concrete Mixer Truck

Impact Shotcrete having a pool day with the Holcombe Mixer HM10H volumetric mobile concrete mixer.

Forecasts predict that the shotcrete concrete market will reach $8.4 billion by 2025. The market is being driven by construction activities, rapid economic development and increasing urbanization, increased underground transport, shotcrete technological efficiency, and increased mining and tunneling activities.

Another key driver is the construction of free-form structures such as sculptures, theme park elements, climbing walls and water-retaining structures including river and seawalls, dams, storage reservoirs, swimming pools, canal lines and water towers.1

If you regularly work with shotcrete and gunite, a volumetric mixer can help you respond to market growth. Bidding more competitively on projects enables you to  grab a bigger piece of this massive growth trend. If you work with both shotcrete and gunite, Holcombe Mixers are the perfect fit for you. Like with all volumetric applications, you also gain the benefits of reduced waste, more efficient operation, flexibility to lay most any type of concrete exactly where and when you want it, and the ability to handle any size job, from the smallest to the largest.

No matter what industry you work in, you have been impacted by the shotcrete shortage. That makes using what you have efficiently a critical piece of adapting to demand. Market growth plus material shortage means a great opportunity, if you can find a way to manage project timelines and customer expectations.

Volumetric Mixer Trucks Drive Swimming Pool Profits

Above Ground Swimming Pool Shotcrete
Above ground swimming pool project. Easy-Mix Concrete Services – Austin, TX

We’ve found that a volumetric mixer truck is a good investment for swimming pool contractors especially. It provides entirely new levels of control and flexibility for the work they do before going volumetric and opens doors to a wide variety of additional work that they didn’t have the ability to complete or bid competitively on before.

For example, when working with a home builder or homeowner, a pool builder might act as the general contractor, but then subcontract out flatwork – the pool deck, front porch, patio, and driveway. The flexibility to quickly and efficiently place any type of concrete then makes it possible to do all that work and capture all the related profit.

Better yet, as pool contractors who work with gunite know, gunite machines only do gunite. By investing in a volumetric mixer truck that does both, many operational challenges go away or are reduced.

Can’t get shotcrete? Do the project with gunite. Spend too much time waiting on concrete mixer truck deliveries? Make your own, on the spot, as much as you need, whenever you want. Doing an especially customized project that uses different mixes, whether the type of concrete, additives used, or dye mixed in, you can literally modify or completely change the mix on the fly. You can rely on Holcombe Mixer trucks for projects that require both shotcrete and gunite applications. Load one truck for gunite and the other truck for shotcrete and you’re in business. Have two projects in the same area where one uses shotcrete and one gunite? Again, simply load the right materials, mix one at one site and switch to mix the other at the second site.

No more wasting time and money while your crew waits for a mixer truck. No delays running back and forth to get the right materials for each job. No more waste. No more worrying about finding subcontractors and hoping they perform to your expectations, and your customers’. No more leaving money on the table or cutting into your profits by jobbing out parts of the project. Find it, bid it, win it, and do it all with your own people and equipment.

Depending on the market, peers doing swimming pool construction in the area, and how much a contractor is using their volumetric mixer, they can even be in a position to provide subcontract services to others who are still in the same situation and facing the same challenges as they did before. For those that see a seasonal swing in demand for and opportunities to install pools, a wider variety of projects are now available to fill in during slow times, keeping both the concrete and the profits flowing.

The best part of investing in a Holcombe volumetric mixer? The relationships we build and maintain with our customers, and the education and training we provide to them on how to get the most out of their mixer truck while building success in volumetric operations.

Other Industries and Applications

Of course, volumetric concrete mixer trucks bring all these advantages to any shotcrete application. Quality Engineering, traditionally known for infrastructure construction like bridges and airports, has expanded to use shotcrete made with Holcombe Mixers. They’ve shared photos from some of their projects that have used shotcrete online.

Many repair and construction industry segments are steadily growing, and there is a lot of optimism in many places that if all or part of the White House’s proposed infrastructure investment plan comes to fruition, that steady growth is expected to explode. The reinforcement, rehabilitation, and repair work required to address all the deferred maintenance on roadways and repair or replacement of hundreds of thousands of outdated bridges across the country also means some current materials shortages are likely to get worse.

More and more municipalities are creating skate parks as part of their work in parks and recreation. Another “out there” application that may well be here sooner than you think is the new and growing industry using automated shotcrete application technology to “print” 3D houses. Early real-world situations in Europe and California have some of the first residents moving into this type of home, with many more on the way, including an entire development of “printed” homes in California’s Coachella Valley and more planned for Austin, TX.2, 3

Of course, the need for foundations, for earthquake resistant seismic thickening in California, and the ongoing demand for more housing that’s affordable for the middle class means traditional homebuilding will continue and accelerate. Likewise, the need for new and improved roads and tunnels to allow all those new homeowners to get where they need to go will be a significant piece of the shotcrete industry. Another application likely to grow will be retaining walls to allow development of land not currently usable for housing development, along with dams and other water control structures to both protect and provide drinking water.4, 5

Let us show you how a Holcombe volumetric concrete mixer gives you more control, helps you better serve your customers, enables your team to get more done, faster and more efficiently, and boosts your bottom line. Call or Contact us today, or schedule a meeting with us today to learn more.


References

1. IndustryARC. (2021, May 5). Shotcrete Concrete Market Forecast to Reach $8.4 Billion by 2025. Retrieved May 6, 2021.

2. Paul, K. (2021, March 19). ‘The future of housing’: California desert to get America’s first 3D-printed neighborhood. Retrieved May 6, 2021.

3. Boffey, D. (2021, April 30). Dutch couple become Europe’s first inhabitants of a 3D-printed house. Retrieved May 6, 2021.

4. News, P. (2021, March 24). Quality Gunite and Shotcrete Application for a Successful Pool Project. Retrieved May 6, 2021.

5. Danninger, J. (2009, March). Understanding the Shotcrete Pool Application. Retrieved May 6, 2021.

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