Disadvantages of Ready-mix Concrete
- The materials are batched at a central plant, and the mixing begins at that plant, so the traveling time from the plant to the site is critical over longer distances. Some sites are just too far away, though this is usually a commercial rather than a technical issue.
- Generation of additional road traffic. Furthermore, access roads and site access have to be able to carry the greater weight of the ready-mix truck plus load. (Green concrete is approx. 2.5 tonne per m³.) This problem can be overcome by utilizing so-called 'minimix' companies which use smaller 4m³ capacity mixers able to access more-restricted sites.
- Concrete's limited timespan between mixing and going-off means that ready-mix should be placed within 90 minutes of batching at the plant. Modern admixtures can modify that timespan precisely, however, so the amount and type of admixture added to the mix is very important.
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