-Site Trip To Higgins Concrete Plant.
-In Class.

Today we all met up in the EShed for the lecturers and the remainder of the class to arrive.We then shifted off to a Class to learn about concrete and cement.Cement consists of broken down sand/rocks,Water and reinforcing.Lime is the main ingredient.We were all shown a video in regards to how the cement was made,It started with limestone which is broken down into smaller sized arrigates through a crusher,then dropped onto conveyer belts and feed to another crusher ready to be crushed to smaller sizes.After that they were dropped into a kiln,and heated up with additives.Then brought out and fan cooled till they were at an 80 degree heat.Yet to be broken down to a fine powder/dust.

After being in class for an hour we headed to the vans and drove to the Higgins Plant.Once we arrived we met the Site manager,Aaron Curry who gave us a tour around the site.I learn't that The silos in the plant hold up to 80 tonnes of cement at one time.Atleast one cement truck is always on the run 24/7.We were shown how the concrete was spun inside the bowl on the truck,Water is added to get the right consistentcy.Then A sample is taken out and tested,They call it the slump test,A small cone is filled up,1/3 at a time is added then pushed down 25 times to get most air out and compact as much down as possible.After that the cone is flipped upside down and a bar is placed on top with a rule measuring how much it slumps down.After that We were shown a concrete cylinder that has been stored for 28 days.They usually take three of these cylinders and then send them away to a lab for compression tests.We were then taken out back where the storage tanks containing additives,retarders,calcuim,Plasticisers ect.Past the tanks was the water tank that they use,

To be Continued....