Slow & Steady Brings Concrete Innovation Success

Sometimes engineering innovation is not shiny, new and instantaneous. Like the slow food movement, sometimes slow…….. is good...

Like Vertech Hume who have an engineering innovation project that has taken over 15 years to cure but which is certainly making its mark now.

Brothers Hume (Don and Graeme) are casting concrete poles vertically. “So where’s the innovation in that?” we hear you ask?

But there’s a bit more to it than a mere 90 degree shift from the conventional horizontal to the vertical.

That’s why the new technique received one of the 2007 Engineering Excellence Awards, and is now on the way to replacing the over 90 year old convention of horizontal spun concrete technology (the internationally accepted way of making concrete pipes for power and lighting poles, piles etc was developed by Hume ancestors early last century!).

In the 1990s Don and Graeme Hume started developing a vertical pipe casting process called the Vertech Hume Vertical Casting Process, enabling a round hollow concrete pole to be cast in high slump concrete and demoulded in just 15 minutes. Their argument is that their patented vertical casting method is less labour intensive, faster and much safer than the conventional method, as well as having environmental advantages.

“Say you want to produce 20 to 30 poles per day” says Don, “a conventional factory will need some 25 people – we need just 6.”

“We also need just one tenth of the land area, and so our capital cost is much lower. Previously 30 poles per day meant 30 moulds at around $40,000 each (because they take some 8 hours each to cure). But with our system we can get each mould producing approximately 3 poles per hour.”

There were many little details that have all had to be attended to in order to get the whole enterprise to really work. The poles are cast upside down and the concrete is pumped in from the bottom of the mould and moves up through the steel reinforcing cage. One of the key innovations is using a pressure system to dewater the concrete while it is still in the vertical position. This takes around 10-15 minutes immediately after which stripping can commence. The concrete is strong enough to maintain its shape, and the uncured pole, suspended only on its reinforcement cage is quickly transferred to the curing station, leaving the mould free for the next cycle.

With its cost and speed of production advantages, Vertech Hume is currently exporting to an international market. The company has also developed a relocatable plant that is also being marketed overseas. Ironically, this new technology will eventually replace the early 20th century technology developed by their forbears.

Hume is a name long linked to innovation in concrete technology. Successive Hume generations have developed and exported the first technologies of their types in the world. In 1912 the first Hume Brothers patented the spun pipe making process – a production method that continues to the current day.

Today, ongoing research and innovation continues… who knows what the brothers Hume, or the next generation, might come up with next?

Further information www.vertechhume.com.au 

Disclaimer: The Warren Centre publishes articles relating to new technology and innovation that are often based on information supplied by third parties. While an editorial process is applied, we make no exhaustive investigation into the accuracy of the information, thus no liability will be accepted for its accuracy. Please note that in providing this information, The Warren Centre is not supporting or promoting any technology or company, merely seeking to inform. Interested readers should take their own steps to verify the information prior to relying on it in any way.

Contents

Innovation is a difficult concept in the world of building design
The Pace Heats Up On Australian Solar Initiatives
Slow & Steady Brings Concrete Innovation Success
Of Course You Can Study Engineering At High School!
Australia’s High School Engineers Among World’s Best – Again!
Engineering & Engineering Innovation Underpin Just About Everything!
The Global Competition: Six Challenges for Australia
 

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