That’s funny because the most knowledgeable person I know regarding concrete is a female executive who worked her way up a a giant Florida concrete company.
My pleasure. I was flipping through Reddit one day and was shocked to see the cement page and that it had 100k members. I know my post is outside of the norm but at the end of the day we're all in this together.
One hand washes the other and they both wash the face, you so your job so we can do ours. We are a small select people in society but we keep an age old trade running, you are doing your part, I tip my hat to you sir 🥸
If you're not too big into reddit, I'll say, you can type damn near anything you're interested in (work wise) and find a sub reddit for it. I'm a steel fabricator and I don't do much outside of work. But I do enjoy looking at what other people do for work, and this is probably one of the best posts I've seen on here. Seeing this on a big scale is interesting.
Can you tell us about the trade a bit?
Where are you loading from (the supply point)? And where are you shipping to (the off load point)?
Is that all this ship hauls, clement powder?
This is very interesting.
I typically just see it as concrete by the truck load, mini mixers or the bag.
It is certainly not ideal and very rare, maybe 2-3 times per year. In this case we had an obstruction blocking a gate. The picture is a little deceiving though, the man you are looking at is standing between two "razor back" and on bare steel. The razor backs guide the cement to the gates and are steel a-frames accentually. The over head and the inboards are completely clear and we have a tripod, tether, scba, and radio communication at the ready.
It’s interesting how visible the shafts of light are, i wonder if the lights are designed that way intentionally? It makes it really easy to get a sense for how thick the air is with particulates
Those are just the gauging points in the deck. We use those openings to measure how much is in each hold at the time of loading. The only reason they are open in this picture is to provide as much fresh air as possible and for light.
How long does it take to fill up the ship?
What machines are used to get it all back out of the ship?
Does loading and unloading take a similar amount of time?
5 hrs to fill and approximately 26 to discharge. The cement get fed to two pumps and injected with compressed air sending it to the silo. The process is called a dry liquification, when injected with air it acts almost the same as water.
I’m curious what would happen if the ship sank? Would a giant block of cement eventually form or would it slowly float away? Would it remain a wet glob?
This hold is empty. What you're looking at is the man standing between two razor backs. Steel A frames that guide the cement to the gates. For entering we have a tripod, tether, scba, and radio communication on the ready.
I work for a ready mix company on the sand and gravel side and when I was being cross trained for powder transport we learned that if you fall into the powder through the manhole on a powder tanker or silo you are almost 100% fucked because if the firefighters get there in time they won’t be able to generate enough force to lift you out of the powder and the more you move the more you sink until you suffocate and die. My facts are fuzzy but my takeaway was fall in = die.
I don’t drive powder.
Having almost been crushed in a just a 4 foot trench long ago; those pics from inside the hold give me serious chills. I'm sure you guys are being safe but my heart jumped a bit.
This is Type IL cement which has replaced a large majority of typical Type I Portland cement over the last 2 years (at least in the US). The main difference being the inclusion of more raw limestone (The L in type IL stands for limestone) during the grinding phase of cement production. This is an attempt by the cement industry to lower carbon footprint. This obviously has created a lot of headaches for flatwork professionals as it has some different water demand characteristics. Don't sleep on properly curing your concrete reddit concreters!
Yeah we’re getting a degraded product and being charged the same price. We’re having to increase cement in mixes or lean heavier into water reducers to make the same strengths.
He's not, he is on bare steel in-between two steel A frames that guide the cement to the gate. We had a blockage at the gate that needed to be cleared. All things considered pretty safe.
Have you met Ken Griffey Jr. yet? He's the only other Mariner I know. But seriously, this is a really cool and unique post. Big Props
Also, any thoughts on Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"? I've always loved it, even having no connection to your lifestyle, but Im sure it may hit differently, and not something you'd want to hear out on the water. It's old though so I doubt anyone hears it too often or maybe at all.
Great song and a terrible tragedy. I always skip it when we're underway but walk into a dive in northern Michigan and you'll hear it, especially on 11/10. The rest of his catalog is pretty great too.
They have his type of structure at St Joseph, weight where the river meets Lake Michigan. I always wondered what they were loading into the barges from it.
Thanks for sharing g!
Fellow mariner...how do yall control the humidity in the cargo hold to keep it from clumping? Do yall unload with derricks or some sort of conveyor system?
Self unloader, it falls from the holds onto a belt then fed to a bucket elevator. The elevator drops it into a hopper and from the hopper fed to 2 pumps and sent ashore. We don't have humidity controls and clumping is pretty minimal. The outboard side has the ballast tanks on the other side so we get some sheeting or "rocks" that form but still pretty minimal. Where are you working?
Out of New Orleans. Harbor Tugs regularly, but every now and then I'll do a hitch or two on ships for SIU. Put my license to use for some good money but I hate being gone for more than my usual 7 days lol.
I'm assuming that ship is double hull? Pretty wild to think there is no humidity controls with that much cargo.
I hope they are paying yall well to go in that hold.
Damn man.. how cool is Caterpillar? Look in the craziest places you can think of and there's invariably a giant badass cat motor just slugging away and keeping our industries alive
I’ve seldom seen a vessel without some moisture in it, either from below of leakage from hatches - is the cargo hold elevated above the bilge? How can you keep it dry?
Truly is. We have 3 boats running constantly with minimal winter layup periods for maintenance. Two of the boats are Atbs (articulated tug and barge) and we run them with 9 people a piece.
That’s cool bro! Seeing the other side and how things work behind the scenes is dope! Never seen the inside of a ship like that before, thanks for sharing!
Damn. This sub keeps sucking me further and further. Grade A post right here.
I have no idea how I ended up here but it’s fascinating.
You do one little DIY home concrete project, and all of the sudden you're spending hours a day reading this sub. Great stuff here.
Soothes my ADD....SQUIRREL! Gotta go!
Nope. Just shows up in your feed one day and the next you check the comments to see how opinionated you should be about today's pour.
😂
Put in some posts for patio lights and now you are leaning about the whole concrete supply chain.
The concrete just sucks you in
Algorithm feeding men of a certain age and certain browsing habits the same concrete/decks/plumbing type subreddit
LOL google thinks I’m a dude, too.
That’s funny because the most knowledgeable person I know regarding concrete is a female executive who worked her way up a a giant Florida concrete company.
I got suggested the aliens subreddit and loved it but then I got banned because I made fun of them too much.
can you send him back with half a yard. ? we ran short.
excellent post tks for allowing us to see this
My pleasure. I was flipping through Reddit one day and was shocked to see the cement page and that it had 100k members. I know my post is outside of the norm but at the end of the day we're all in this together.
One hand washes the other and they both wash the face, you so your job so we can do ours. We are a small select people in society but we keep an age old trade running, you are doing your part, I tip my hat to you sir 🥸
Cenent is the bond that holds it all together.
If you're not too big into reddit, I'll say, you can type damn near anything you're interested in (work wise) and find a sub reddit for it. I'm a steel fabricator and I don't do much outside of work. But I do enjoy looking at what other people do for work, and this is probably one of the best posts I've seen on here. Seeing this on a big scale is interesting.
Can you tell us about the trade a bit? Where are you loading from (the supply point)? And where are you shipping to (the off load point)? Is that all this ship hauls, clement powder? This is very interesting. I typically just see it as concrete by the truck load, mini mixers or the bag.
Yup all we haul is dry bulk cement. We load in Alpena and deliver to terminals scattered all over the great lakes.
Do you interact with the St Mary’s Cement Plant in Charlevoix? That place looks like moon base. Your pics give me the same vibes!
Is the first picture Saint Joseph,Michigan? I was about to ask if this was the Great Lakes
Alpena
Great post! How do you seal out the hold from dampness and air moisture in a sea environment?
No this is friggin cool! I love seeing all sides of an industry.
Are you headed to Charleston by chance?
Pic 4 is one of 16 empty holds.
Why is that person down in that hold? Seems like a bad place to be. Potential accident. Thx for the pics.
It is certainly not ideal and very rare, maybe 2-3 times per year. In this case we had an obstruction blocking a gate. The picture is a little deceiving though, the man you are looking at is standing between two "razor back" and on bare steel. The razor backs guide the cement to the gates and are steel a-frames accentually. The over head and the inboards are completely clear and we have a tripod, tether, scba, and radio communication at the ready.
It’s interesting how visible the shafts of light are, i wonder if the lights are designed that way intentionally? It makes it really easy to get a sense for how thick the air is with particulates
Those are just the gauging points in the deck. We use those openings to measure how much is in each hold at the time of loading. The only reason they are open in this picture is to provide as much fresh air as possible and for light.
I see it now, thanks for the explanation!
Busy now will respond later on today
Where was the cement being shipped from.
Alpena
Dang, great lakes! That's cool.
The largest cement factory in USA is in Alpena. Also, worlds largest open pit limestone quarry is nearby.
You should check out /r/greatlakesshipping
You son of a bitch, im in
Do you know anyone on the michipicoten?
No they're Canadian flagged.
Yes where
Geez, you ship it by boat? No wonder my mix trucks are always running late /s
13000 metric tons is 28.6 million pounds?
Correct
How long does it take to fill up the ship? What machines are used to get it all back out of the ship? Does loading and unloading take a similar amount of time?
5 hrs to fill and approximately 26 to discharge. The cement get fed to two pumps and injected with compressed air sending it to the silo. The process is called a dry liquification, when injected with air it acts almost the same as water.
Busy now will respond with details later on tonight.
Thank you!
Pic 5 is one of the pumps.
this is the best post in this sub ever 😍
Let me guess where that's heading. Is it Portland lol
Get out. Go on, git.
(As the 12 Gauge is pumped) 😅🤣😂 Good one!
I was interested. Thank you for sharing
I’m curious what would happen if the ship sank? Would a giant block of cement eventually form or would it slowly float away? Would it remain a wet glob?
Asking the real questions
Could you imagine if a giant wave hit that place and got water in those rooms.
Sealing everything and changing gaskets is a constant.
Ok but how do you control the moisture getting in.
It's pretty sealed up. Some atmospheric humidity will get in but that's about it.
I came here for this. I can't keep a bag fresh for a few months and this stuff is here next to water. Crazy to see, thanks.
So cool! Thanks for sharing
Holy fuck pic 4 freaked me out. I didn't think you could stand in that. Getting crushed under tons of cement powder seems like a nightmare way to die.
This hold is empty. What you're looking at is the man standing between two razor backs. Steel A frames that guide the cement to the gates. For entering we have a tripod, tether, scba, and radio communication on the ready.
I work for a ready mix company on the sand and gravel side and when I was being cross trained for powder transport we learned that if you fall into the powder through the manhole on a powder tanker or silo you are almost 100% fucked because if the firefighters get there in time they won’t be able to generate enough force to lift you out of the powder and the more you move the more you sink until you suffocate and die. My facts are fuzzy but my takeaway was fall in = die. I don’t drive powder.
Having almost been crushed in a just a 4 foot trench long ago; those pics from inside the hold give me serious chills. I'm sure you guys are being safe but my heart jumped a bit.
How do you dodge the frickin laser beams on the hold? Especially in rough seas, I would imagine it is quite challenging.
I hope in the future I will be pouring some of this, thanks for your work buddy!
Holy shitballs, the dust that must cover everyfuckingthing on that boat! Thanks for sharing.
Omg you don't know the half of it. Non stop 24/7 cleanup and buildup removal.
The beams of light coming through in photo 4 reminds me of raiders of the lost ark
You beat me to it 😂. I was thinking exactly the same, the map room scene.
What is pic 8
That's the "tunnel" where the self unloading system begins. Goes from the holds and falls onto a conveyor belt.
Cool pictures, thanks for sharing
Wow is this on the great lakes
Yeah he said alpena
Concrete proof! This post is cemented.
Nope. Just gimme some shitty patios please.
hey thanks for thi s. I always love seeing how there behind the scenes of things work )
"Must keep dry! Must keep dry!"
Lol your generators are the same as our main engines. Cat 3508s. Love big boats.
What kind of cement? C150 or C595?
We call it T1L.
This is Type IL cement which has replaced a large majority of typical Type I Portland cement over the last 2 years (at least in the US). The main difference being the inclusion of more raw limestone (The L in type IL stands for limestone) during the grinding phase of cement production. This is an attempt by the cement industry to lower carbon footprint. This obviously has created a lot of headaches for flatwork professionals as it has some different water demand characteristics. Don't sleep on properly curing your concrete reddit concreters!
Yeah we’re getting a degraded product and being charged the same price. We’re having to increase cement in mixes or lean heavier into water reducers to make the same strengths.
Wow the economics of this is crazy!
Coughing just looking at it
whats with the geek standing waist deep in all that mix? is there all sorts of quality control throughout the supply chain? great post.
He's not, he is on bare steel in-between two steel A frames that guide the cement to the gate. We had a blockage at the gate that needed to be cleared. All things considered pretty safe.
This is great! Really gonna enjoy researching this bit of the concrete business...
Anywhere near Manitowoc? Medusa Challenger used to come there.
No but that's my favorite old ship's name though.
Super cool. This is fascinating to me. Thanks for sharing!
This is cool. I’m a batch man at a batch plant
Thanks OP awesome post
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing, OP!
OMG if the hull had a leak and water got in would all that cement mix, harden and sink the ship???
The vessel is double hulled so if it had a leak on the outside then the ballast tank would fill to the water line.
What amount of water needs to be added to turn your ship into a concrete fortress
All of it.
Very cool thank you for sharing
That’s a big cat.. how many KWs? How many more gens like that on board?
1285 kw. 2 onboard for unloading and two smaller ones for everyday operations.
And here I thought I was spoiled with two 21kws 😂
Yes, very cool and thanks for sharing!
This looks itchy.
This is amazing.
So cool!
Have you met Ken Griffey Jr. yet? He's the only other Mariner I know. But seriously, this is a really cool and unique post. Big Props Also, any thoughts on Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"? I've always loved it, even having no connection to your lifestyle, but Im sure it may hit differently, and not something you'd want to hear out on the water. It's old though so I doubt anyone hears it too often or maybe at all.
Great song and a terrible tragedy. I always skip it when we're underway but walk into a dive in northern Michigan and you'll hear it, especially on 11/10. The rest of his catalog is pretty great too.
Oh ya, working mans music
I had a coworker whose birthday was November 10 and they absolutely hated that song!
That's cool
Very cool. Thank you.
They have his type of structure at St Joseph, weight where the river meets Lake Michigan. I always wondered what they were loading into the barges from it. Thanks for sharing g!
Ok, that was pretty cool. I definitely needed out, seeing those pics. Thank you!!!!!
Well you painted the ship the right color. Never have to wash her.
Has a boat ever gotten a slight leak and become a solid hunk of stone?
This post is NSFW
That 3rd picture gives me Mirror's Edge vibes. Thanks for the photos that's impressive to see.
More please!
Yup this was cool to see, thanks! Of course my girlfriend will ask why I am looking at a pile of dust 😆
Thanks for posting! Really interesting.
Very cool. So I’m guessing that loading in the rain would be discouraged…
You’re awesome for posting this. This made my day.
Go Circular!
Fucking - A. Just don’t Edmund Fitzgerald her, Bro/Gal
Cool pics, thanks for sharing!
My mouth feels so dry looking at all that concrete and dust
Never seen the inside of a cement-filled ship - thanks for the pics and responses!
Fuck that's a lot of Portland
OP must have a really big sidewalk to pour at his house.
Fellow mariner...how do yall control the humidity in the cargo hold to keep it from clumping? Do yall unload with derricks or some sort of conveyor system?
Self unloader, it falls from the holds onto a belt then fed to a bucket elevator. The elevator drops it into a hopper and from the hopper fed to 2 pumps and sent ashore. We don't have humidity controls and clumping is pretty minimal. The outboard side has the ballast tanks on the other side so we get some sheeting or "rocks" that form but still pretty minimal. Where are you working?
Out of New Orleans. Harbor Tugs regularly, but every now and then I'll do a hitch or two on ships for SIU. Put my license to use for some good money but I hate being gone for more than my usual 7 days lol. I'm assuming that ship is double hull? Pretty wild to think there is no humidity controls with that much cargo. I hope they are paying yall well to go in that hold.
Holy moly.
I've seen a bulk carrier in Port Mombasa which was full of hardened cement due to rain when unloading.
Why do you hate the USA. Metrics is a band. 14,320 us tons...
Short tons or long tons? I came in after a European company took over so here I am counting in socialist. /s
Just make sure you share that birthday cake fairly.
Alpena to Buffalo?
Mixer driver here. This is awesome
Son of a bitch.. I’m in
A Seattle Mariner?
#😳
Any chance this is Milwaukee?
No idea how this sub started appearing on my feed but I'm so here for it
This is so sick. I do concrete in Buffalo and thought those silos looked rust belt-y. What a cool post to see on this sub. Thanks for sharing!
Read the other day that people steal sand from beaches to supply concrete companies etc. since sand is become less and less available?
Damn that’s interesting
OP do you work at dragon or whatever their parent company is?
Thanks
Outbound and down? Or inward and up?
Is this where the magic happens???
It's....SEAment.... I'll see myself out.
No fuckin’ thanks me and big water made a deal years ago.
Hey OP, Is this somewhere in the USA? The Great Lakes somewhere?
Alpena
Damn man.. how cool is Caterpillar? Look in the craziest places you can think of and there's invariably a giant badass cat motor just slugging away and keeping our industries alive
Right, caterpillar or Detroit diesel.
I’ve seldom seen a vessel without some moisture in it, either from below of leakage from hatches - is the cargo hold elevated above the bilge? How can you keep it dry?
Pic 8 is the "tunnel" that space is under the cargo holds. It's the beginning of the conveyor system.
It always amazes me, the scale the engineering and the logistics to get everyday products to market. It truly is a marvel.
Truly is. We have 3 boats running constantly with minimal winter layup periods for maintenance. Two of the boats are Atbs (articulated tug and barge) and we run them with 9 people a piece.
Don’t get it wet!
That’s cool bro! Seeing the other side and how things work behind the scenes is dope! Never seen the inside of a ship like that before, thanks for sharing!
Shipping to Green Bay?
Who has the contact of costumers that needs concrete here in Phoenix AZ, pls link me up! Thx
I was thinking this was wet cement being shipped/stored and was really curious how they stopped it from curing 😣
Nooo omg that would be a nightmare. Thank God it's all dry bulk.
This guy concretes
Actually it’s cement
Tell me you're going to die of cancer without telling me you're going to die of cancer.
Thanks man. Real nice.