North America - Lehigh Cement Company *Adaptation from an article originally published in The Group Ready-mixed concrete producers cash in on waste Leftovers don't always have to go to waste. With the development of Octa-BlocsT, two HeidelbergCement AG companies have turned trash into cash.
Even though engineers carefully calculate the numbers of ready-mixed concrete loads required for a job, conditions at the construction site may change and affect the amount of concrete needed at a specific time. Trucks frequently return to the plant with extra concrete which must be removed in a timely manner. Previously, this concrete was poured onto the ground at the end of the day so crews could clean the trucks and ready them for the next day. With the Octa-BlocT program excess concrete is poured in selected forms and becomes Octa-BlocsT. Handshake agreement The story of Octa-BlocsT began in 1984 when Rempel made a handshake agreement with a block producer to provide labor and equipment for making concrete blocks in the other company's forms. The relationship continued twelve years, and during that time, the practice expanded to eventually include all seven Rempel Bros. plants and the five plants of Ocean Construction, another affiliate of Lehigh Northwest Cement Limited. Rempel and Ocean received 50% of the selling price of the blocks.
Ready to embark on a new venture, Rempel and Ocean partnered with a metal fabricating company that built customized forms and a trucking company that would deliver the blocks. During 1997 and 1998, they designed and built 18 different complementary shapes of the new trademarked Octa-BlocsT. They developed sales literature and a system to track revenue and costs. Production of Octa-BlocsT was in full swing. "Octa-BlocsT have been a tremendous innovation for our companies, both from an environmental and revenue point of view", says Pat Heale, Vice-President and General Manager of Ocean Construction Supplies Limited. "Between 2% and 5% of our production is returned as waste concrete everyday and is an operational and environmental liability if not disposed of properly. With Octa-BlocsT we not only take care of the problem in an environmentally friendly way, we are also able to generate profits on a yearly basis from the sales of the blocs. It's a win-win situation." How Octa-BlocsT Are Made When a mixer driver has leftover fresh concrete at the completion of a delivery, he calls in and notifies the plant. Dispatch specifies if the load can be designated for re-use or if it should be used to make Octa-BlocsT. If it is earmarked for blocks, the driver returns to the plant and pours the concrete into the forms following the posted standard pouring procedures. Often a form is only partially filled from the amount of leftover concrete that comes back from any given job. Partially filled forms are reinforced with rebar (steel-reinforcing rods) and are subsequently filled. Full forms are vibrated and trowel finished. The next day the forms are flipped, taken apart and the finished Octa-BlocT is removed and stacked in the yard. The forms must be cleaned, oiled and reassembled. A standard size Octa-BlocT is a large, rectangular building piece about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long and 30 inches (76 centimeters) deep and tall. A half standard block is almost a perfect, 30-inch cube. The product line includes L and T shapes for junctures in construction and blocks with angled tops to create a finished, tapered edge for retaining walls. Of course, each has the special octagon-shaped design that permits interlocking. Rempel and Ocean market the Octa-BlocsT via print advertising, trade journals, and sales leads generated by the sales forces of the two companies and other affiliated companies of Lehigh Northwest. When a phone call is received about the product, it is directed to an Octa-BlocT customer service coordinator who confirms inventory and arranges for delivery and unloading. The customers are also satisfied with Octa-BlocsT. Erich Jaeger, President of Caravan Construction Limited, which builds homes in the wealthy West Vancouver District, says he uses Octa-BlocsT for stabilizing hilly surfaces, tennis courts, retaining walls and foundation walls. "I was especially pleased with the effect of the textured planter for topping off retaining walls on my most recent site, " he said. The Octa-BlocT product line, an example of innovative recycling, has become an achievement to emulate. Environmentally friendly, too The blocks are produced every day after truck drivers call from job sites to report excess concrete in the drum. When the driver arrives back at the Rempel or Ocean concrete batching plant, he is directed to the proper work area that will receive his concrete. Small amounts of waste concrete, less than 0.23 cubic meters, are rinsed out and the sand and aggregate are removed and recycled. Water is reclaimed and recycled and in most cases put back into the concrete. For more Information
If you are interested in using Octa-BlocsT for your project, please contact:
Lehigh Northwest Cement
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Rempel Bros. Concrete Ltd. and Ocean Construction Supplies Ltd., two ready-mixed concrete companies in the greater Vancouver, BC, are producing and selling their own unique Octa-BlocsT. These are blocks from ready-mixed concrete that comes back to their plants from over-ordered jobs or as leftovers in pump hoppers.
The situation changed in 1996 when the other company demanded a non-negotiable new contract. Rempel chose not to renew the contract. The original phase of their block production ended, and the circumstances left Rempel and Ocean free to pursue innovative ways to use waste concrete.
That same year the two companies developed a distinctive system for concrete blocks. Their blocks have standardized octagon-shaped protrusions and indentations on alternating sides. This enables the compatible components of the system to fit together as securely and easily as a child's snap-together building blocks.
