The Concrete Corner - November

Welcome to The Concrete Corner! This is a monthly newsletter highlighting Ozark Ready Mix, Fischer Concrete Services, and all things concrete and concrete products. In this newsletter, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at our concrete operations, meet outstanding individuals and businesses, and stay up to date on concrete news and trends throughout the Midwest and the United States. Whether you are a contractor, homeowner, or just curious about concrete, this newsletter has something for you. Hopefully, this will be mildly informative, and a little entertaining. However, just like the ready-mix concrete business, we offer no guarantees!

This month’s The Concrete Corner newsletter is presented by GCP Applied Technologies.

Look at that Cement Truck - What’s a major pet peeve of the ready-mix concrete industry? When someone uses cement and concrete interchangeably. Cement is a key ingredient in concrete. So how do we get that cement to each plant across Missouri and Kansas? Well, it’s a combination of skilled cement tanker drivers, logistics, and the help of our cement suppliers. The cement for our Osage Beach location starts its journey in Hannibal, Missouri, where it is barged down the Mississippi & Missouri River to Jefferson City. Once it arrives in Jefferson City, the cement is offloaded into a tanker truck and delivered to our Osage Beach, MO concrete plant. The cement for some of our western locations starts its journey in Humboldt, Kansas. It is then offloaded at a terminal in Spring Hill, Kansas, and delivered to various locations, such as Kansas City, Kansas, or further south in Butler, Missouri. It’s a very complex web, and it’s woven every day. Together, our tanker drivers, logistics team, and cement suppliers work seamlessly to transport cement to our concrete plants across Missouri and Kansas. This allows us to provide our customers with the highest quality concrete, on time and within budget.

Your Slump is Too High - What is the concrete slump? Simply put, concrete slump refers to the workability and/or consistency of the concrete mix. Slump can also be described as how fluid the concrete mix is. If it has a higher slump rating, it is more fluid and ‘workable’, and conversely, a lower slump rating means the mix is less fluid and workable. Creating the right consistency of concrete is vital for the success of a project. Concrete that is too ‘wet’ is liable to crack and scale. Concrete that is too ‘dry’ will be difficult to pour and handle. How do we control & retain our slumps? One answer is with high-range and mid-range chemical additives from GCP Applied Technologies. These chemicals allow us to keep the water/cement ratio to a minimum while achieving high strength and durability or producing extremely workable high-slump concrete. We pour both high and low concrete slumps daily, depending upon the use and application.

Buzzing Around Butler - Missouri is one of the top ten agricultural exporting states in the country, playing a major role in the statewide economy. Airports throughout the state support agricultural applications, which in turn support the livelihood of many farmers in the state. Fischer Concrete Services has supplied thousands of cubic yards of concrete to build and repair runways, taxiways, and other infrastructure at over 20 agriculture airports in central and northern Missouri, making them safer and more efficient. This past month we teamed up with Koehn Building Systems for their project at the Butler Memorial Airport in Butler, Missouri. The construction of new aprons, taxiways, and runways at Butler Memorial Airport will support the agricultural industry in Butler and the surrounding area by making it easier for agricultural aircraft to take off and land, which will help to reduce crop damage and improve efficiency.

Your Concrete Needs Air - When it comes to concrete, there are two types of mixes: air-entrained and non-air-entrained. Air-entrained concrete is used when the concrete will be exposed to the elements, such as rain, snow, or humidity, and when the surface will be broom-finished. On the other hand, non-air-entrained concrete is used for indoor applications or when the surface will be slick-finished.

Missouri and Kansas are located in a freeze-thaw region, which means that we experience repeated cycles of freezing and thawing temperatures throughout the winter. When the temperature drops below freezing, water collected in the small pores in the concrete expands. This expansion can cause the concrete to crack. To prevent this, air entrainment admixtures such as GCP’s DARAVAIR 1000 are added to the ready-mix concrete when the concrete is used for an exterior application. The billions of microscopic air bubbles created by the admixture act as reservoirs for the expanding water, preventing it from damaging the concrete.

Did you know…For the third quarter of 2023, MoDOT reported nine on-system work zone crashes, resulting in ten fatalities. In the same reporting period, there was one off-system work zone crash that resulted in one fatality. Contributing factors to these crashes are similar to all crashes statewide, with three involving a vehicle traveling too fast for conditions, one involving a pedestrian, and two involving an impaired driver. All four crashes occurred at night.

Slow down and pay attention…it’s that easy.

See you next month for another peek behind the concrete curtain!

Kenny Jackson