Tokyo Cement Company conducts training program for CMC Technical Officers

Monday, 18 November 2019 00:46 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Technical Officers of the Colombo Municipal Council who participated in the training program

Tokyo Cement Company recently conducted a one-day training program on ‘Cement and Concrete’ for a group of technical officers of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC). The program saw the participation of 31 technical officers and was held in collaboration with the CMC Training Division at their Training Centre at Madampitiya.

Tokyo Supermix RMC Marketing General Manager Eng. Janaka Perera made a presentation on the Tokyo Cement Group’s product and business portfolio. He highlighted the paradigm shift that has taken place on the quality requirements of concrete for high-rise building projects in Colombo, and the leading role played by Tokyo Supermix in meeting these challenges. He further related the influence this quality shift in concrete formulation has had on the construction industry as a whole, with the widespread use of Blended Cement, M-Sand and new generation admixtures. He made particular reference to the superior quality Blended Hydraulic Cement (BHC) manufactured by Tokyo Cement, using the newly installed ‘Dynamic Separator’ for Fly Ash Classification and ‘Turbo Blender’ for manufacturing of BHC. Perera further explained how the premier brand Nippon Pro Cement has enabled Tokyo Supermix to manufacture high-strength concrete grades such as C85 and C70 self-compacting concrete for the Cinnamon Life project and Avic Astoria projects respectively.

Construction Research Centre Product Development Manager Yasas Wickramage did a presentation on various cement types and the recommended uses of each type in accordance with SLS guidelines. He explained the benefits of Blended Hydraulic Cement in marine and marshy environments and the limitations of using Limestone Cement. The cement manufacturing process, a brief history of cement as a major building material and factors affecting durability of plastering mixes were also discussed.

Construction Research Centre Product Testing Manager Janith Kaviraj delivered a presentation on Concrete Manufacturing and Quality Assurance. He explained the process controls applied in concrete manufacturing and the importance of maintaining the quality aspects such as water cement ratio and selection of cement and aggregates. He explained the M-Sand manufacturing process as an alternative to the scarce and expensive river sand and use of appropriate admixtures to obtain fresh state properties. The methodology of checking fresh state properties (workability) and final properties were also discussed. Additionally, he discussed the usage of supplementary cementitious materials in concrete manufacturing, such as fly ash, slag and silica fume. Kaviraj also discussed the quality issues associated with fresh and hardened concrete.

Eng. Janaka Perera concluded the session with a presentation on the interactions between cement and admixtures in retaining the workability of concrete. Colombo Municipal Council Technical Training Deputy Director Eng. Rajasekera co-ordinated this training program on behalf of the Training Division of CMC.