Leading concrete materials company, AfriSam, has responded to demands for increased convenience by introducing its premium quality Dry Mortar product to the market. With a track record of producing high quality readymix concrete, cement and aggregates for more than 80 years, AfriSam has extended its range by producing its Dry Mortar product.
Amit Dawneerangen, sales manager for AfriSam's Gauteng region, says that immediate access to an already blended dry mortar solution is very attractive to South Africa's time-pressed and cost conscious contractors.
AfriSam has responded to demands for increased convenience by introducing its premium quality Dry Mortar product to the market.
This product adds to AfriSam's extensive range of concrete solutions and ensures that contractors have a one-stop solution for all their wet trades, ranging from readymix concrete of varying strengths and specifications to cement, aggregates and Dry Mortar. Through its affiliation with Concrete Laser Flooring, AfriSam also offers contractors peace of mind flooring solutions.
"The AfriSam Dry Mortar mix offers contractors a number of benefits in addition to time and cost savings. Using a pre-blended mortar mix will enable optimum product integrity and subsequently quality construction on a project," he says.
"Manual blending of mortar or plaster requires careful attention to ensure that the correct ratios of sand and cement are used and incorrect blending or mixing will affect the quality of the final product and may result in cracking of plaster. Our Dry Mortar solution alleviates human error and goes a long way to ensuring quality workmanship," Dawneerangen says.
Ideal for both mortar and plaster applications
This Class II mortar has been specially engineered as a dual purpose mix that can be used for both mortar and plaster. It will meet the minimum strength requirement of 5 MPa at 28 days with ease, whilst its well graded smooth texture requires minimal water addition and it facilitates an extremely smooth and crack free surface.
Value-adding benefits
The product is supplied in 10 or 20 ton silos. This is a space saving advantage on a construction or building site as it effectively eliminates the need to accommodate large stockpiles of sand and frees up the area normally used to store bagged cement.
Supplying the product in either 10 ton or 20 ton silos offers optimum flexibility for all customers who can then decide on the size required based on individual project requirements.
The 10 ton silo is delivered fully loaded from the AfriSam facility, while the 20 ton silo is delivered to site empty and filled via bulk tanker. Discharge into the silo is conducted using a closed conveyance system which ensures product integrity and the elimination of dust during the process. Not only does this guarantee optimum quality of the product, but the process also complies with all the requisite environmental regulations, a factor that underlines AfriSam's long term commitment to environmental stewardship.
To add to this, stockpiled building materials are often pilfered on site and by using the AfriSam Dry Mortar silos, theft is virtually eradicated and there is a similar significant reduction in wastage.
There are also other environmental and convenience benefits such as fewer vehicles on the road delivering raw materials to site. Instead of having separate deliveries for sand and cement, these now arrive in one vehicle. Procurement is simplified with the number of suppliers reduced, as is the amount of raw materials on site.
Discharge mechanism
On smaller contracts that do not make use of automated systems, the dry mortar can be discharged from the silo directly into wheelbarrows or other mixing vessels. Other options include attaching a mixer and a water connection to the silo so that when dry mortar is discharged, it comes into contact with the water and delivers a product that is ready to use.
This wet product is then discharged into a utility unit such as a dumper or concrete hopper. Where high rise construction is taking place and there is a need to convey the mixed mortar upwards, a mortar pumping system may be connected to the silo to facilitate the easy transfer of the product.
Production process
Dawneerangen says that the most critical aspect of a ready to use dry mortar product is that the sand must be completely dry prior to the blending process to prevent any possibility of the cement reacting to any moisture. Special care is taken to ensure that the sand is completely dry and free of excessive clay and other deleterious material ensuring that a product of only the highest quality is produced.
The sand is then blended with AfriSam's All Purpose Cement in a controlled environment at a bespoke plant to produce a mix that is underpinned by high levels of quality. AfriSam's All Purpose Cement is an advanced composite cement containing milled clinker as well as advanced mineral components and additives. "These improve the product's workability and durability and it has the lowest carbon footprint in the 42.5N strength class. This ensures that the AfriSam Dry Mortar is a more environmentally responsible choice for contractors," he says
The fully automated plant has a 400 ton per day capacity, with plans in place to expand the capacity in response to market demand. The plant also offers the opportunity to produce coloured mortars and plasters, which AfriSam is currently in the process of developing. This will eliminate the need for paint and other expensive decorative coatings.
Quality assurance
Batch printouts are produced to verify consistency and ensure optimum quality. In addition, samples of the dry mortar product are taken at regular intervals and tested at AfriSam's Centre of Product Excellence to ensure compliance with the required specifications. In addition, the Centre of Product Excellence will assist customers with queries and will provide product technical support to assist contractors in achieving a quality build.
Product availability
AfriSam Dry Mortar has already been introduced to customers in Gauteng with much success and will be rolled out to the other provinces shortly.
"We are excited about the addition of Dry Mortar to our existing product range. We believe it demonstrates our commitment to delivering superior concrete solutions to our customers through continuous product innovation", concludes Dawneerangen.
