Concrete: How to Run a Concrete Shoot

Running the concrete shoot for a concrete pour is an important job.  Most concrete arrives at the job site in a rear concrete truck.  The person in charge of the concrete shoot is directing the entire job.  It is his job to instruct the driver, keep an eye on the muckers and control the concrete coming out of the truck.

If the concrete shoot man does not do his job properly then every man on the crew must play catch-up.  The concrete flowing from the shoot needs to come out at a good pace.  If the shoot man goes too fast or too slow then the concrete doesn’t get distributed evenly and the muckers are either left to spread out a large pile or rake back to areas that did not get covered. 

The concrete shoot man needs to be in constant communication with the rakers while looking at the job that is raked out behind him.  The best school for a concrete shoot man is the school of experience.  It takes a good eye for the concrete process.  He should be a good judge when eyeballing how much concrete gets distributed on the job and gauge how much area the concrete will cover.

The concrete shoot man should also know how to use several hand signals to communicate with the concrete truck driver.  Stop, go forward, more mud, etc. are included in the lingo of the concrete pour.  We’ll cover various truck signals in a following post.

The concrete shoot man is key to all concrete jobs.  A good seasoned operator will make any job go smoother.