Sensors on Concrete Lorries to reduce concrete waste by

Cloud Cycle, a Tech startup, has received an £835,000 grant from HS2 Ltd and Innovate UK's Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge so as to impulse its concrete waste reduction technology. Concrete is one of the main emitters of carbon dioxide both in the UK and worldwide and so is one of the principal reasons why the construction industry is such a large offender.

If concrete is not delivered by its “sell-by time” it may mean that it cannot be used, which leads to direct waste. Also, having to re-order concrete means there is down-time which has a direct impact on operations, (costs), and may also have further knock-on effects which could cause more indirect waste.

Cloud Cycle reduces the probability of waste by fitting sensors outside the cement truck’s drum, which, in turn, are connected with digital monitoring technology. The result is a time reduction between batching and delivery.

The grant will enable the project to be implemented on the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway construction project between London and Birmingham. It is expected that the move will reduce concrete waste by 420,000t on phase one.

We look forward to seeing the technology being rolled out to the wider construction industry.

This article was first seen on:

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/hs2-backs-tech-to-reduce-concrete-use-by-420000t-between-london-and-birmingham-26-03-2021/