Below ground first
These districts are coastal, with shallow groundwater that carries chlorides and sulphates. Your consultant will specify the exposure class, cover and probably a GGBS blend with a low water to cement ratio for piles, caps and basement walls. We need that specification before quoting a mix, not on the day of the pour.
Estimate pile volumes as the cross-section times the bored length, plus an over-break allowance agreed with the piling contractor. Twenty piles of 600 mm diameter at 18 m come to about 102 m³, nine truckloads.
Frame and slabs on a tight plot
Once out of the ground, the order becomes repeat slabs on a superstructure mix. There is rarely space to park a mixer next to the building, so almost every pour is pumped from the street. Agree the pump position with the neighbours and the road authority, and keep it the same each floor if you can.
Screed and any roof waterproofing screeds come at the end.
Basement walls next to old buildings are often poured against shoring, which needs its own mix and its own sequence. Ask the engineer whether a shoring mix is required, and plan those pours before the excavation reaches full depth.
Checklist for the morning of a pour
Road space confirmed. Pump booked with the right boom length; on a narrow street, outrigger footprint matters as much as reach. Steel and formwork signed off. Cube sampling ready. Slump agreed for the hour of the pour, because a summer midday is not a winter dawn.
Our plant in Al Quoz is about 15 km away in a straight line. Trucks approach by Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Street or Al Mankhool Road; congestion is the variable, so we time departures accordingly.
Ordering in Bur Dubai and Al Karama follows our standard readymix concrete Dubai process: the mix, the volume, the pour window.
Questions from Bur Dubai and Al Karama sites
- How much over-break should I add for bored piles?
- Your piling contractor and engineer set it from the soil report. Add it to the theoretical volume before you place the order.
- Can trucks wait in the street during a pour?
- Only if the road and neighbours allow it. We prefer to space trucks so they arrive as the previous one empties.
- Can you supply a shoring mix for secant piles?
- Yes, shoring is one of our standard mixes. Your consultant confirms the specification for the soft and hard piles.