TRAINING FOR BATCHERS – KEY PLAYERS IN QUALITY CONCRETE PRODUCTION

The Concrete Institute’s School of Concrete Technology will this year
offer a special one-day course for concrete batchers and batch plant staff in
Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.

Matthews Magwaza, lecturer at the School of Concrete Technology, says
batching – the process of measuring and combining concrete ingredients according
to the predetermined mix design – is a vital element of concrete production
which ensures high and uniform quality of readymix concrete for each batch
produced by a batching plant.

“The durability of a structure is highly dependent on the quality of the
concrete used to build it. Therefore, it is essential to precisely and
meticulously select the concrete ingredients and this can only be achieved by a
competent batcher. It is, for example, important to maintain the water-cement
ratio constantly at the set value and a skilled batcher will be able to adapt
his or her production to cater for the water content in the aggregate,” Magwaza
explains.

He says proper batching offers several benefits including:

• Low variability in plastic and hardened
  concrete properties;  
• Better plant efficiency;
• Lower production costs; and
• Higher client satisfaction and sales
  volumes.

“The course offered by the School of Concrete Technology will provide
batchers and staff at a batch plant with the essential concrete education and
theory to competently produce quality readymix concrete. The training will also
benefit batch plant supervisors, laboratory staff, sales and staff and even
general labourers involved with batching,” Magwaza adds.

Topics covered will include:

• Batchers’ responsibilities;
• The concrete materials and their effect
  on the concrete mix;
• Fresh properties of concrete – and the
  tests to check it;
• Basics of mix design, including the
  control of the water content;
• Testing for the hardened properties of
  concrete; and
• Basic management of a batch plant,
  including implement Quality Control systems.

The course (SCT15) will be presented in Midrand on June 23, Durban on
July 20, Cape Town on September 14, and Port Elizabeth on October 5. For
further information, contact John Roxburgh on 011 315 0300 or email johnr@theconcreteinstitute.org.za.

Ends

Caption:

Improved plant
efficiency is one of the benefits of skilled batching. The School of Concrete
Technology will provide training for batchers in four centres this year.

Ends

Press release from Jan de Beer, cell 082 456 3677