Text B. With a great number of plants producing precast reinforced concrete elements in our country and abroad it is a rapid growth of precast concrete products

With a great number of plants producing precast reinforced concrete elements in our country and abroad it is a rapid growth of precast concrete products. Particularly they are wall panels, slabs, beams to serve a multitude of building needs. This industry has a task to maintain and improve the quality of the products. A lot of excellent work has already been done to raise the standards of this industry to their present level.

First of all a well-designed plant must be established in the given area. A careful appraisal of the potential requirements provides valuable information for determining the size of the plant which should be built. A number of economic considerations deserve a particular attention. The following general aspects should be kept in mind when designing a plant. The plant floor level should be not 6 inches above the general grade of the yard to assure. In addition, concrete yard runways should be slightly above the level of the surrounding yard so that they will remain free of pebbles and other obstructions that might interfere with the operation of trucks or other equipment. The yard should slope away from the main building in all directions if possible. Adequate space should be allowed at sides and in front of machines and casting beds.

Then, a well-designed plant must have sufficient capacity for the normal output plus reasonable margin for a possible increase. All raw materials are elevated into overhead storage bins. The materials may move by gravity from the bins to the mixers and molding machinery without re-elevating. With such an arrangement the mixers are located on a separate floor level directly above the molding machinery. In large plants producing precast-concrete elements the molded units are delivered from the molding machinery to high-pressure steam curing autoclaves for further treatment.