BULK CEMENT
BGC Cement provides a wide range of bulk cement types suitable for general concrete applications, road stabilisation, cemented aggregate fill (CAF), cemented paste fill (CPF), controlled low strength material (CLSM) and shotcrete.
Cement types include:
General Purpose (GP)
Low Heat (LH)
High Early Strength (HE); and
Sulphate Resistant (SR).
Other blended bulk cements, custom designed for specific technical performance, can also be provided.
General Purpose (GP)
GP is also known as a Portland Cement or OPC. With over 30,500 tonnes of storage capacity at BGC Cement, it is by far the most popular type of cement.
Manufactured from Portland Cement clinker, gypsum and limestone, GP cement is a cost effective and high quality building material that complies with AS3972. Its most common use is in the production of concrete and concrete related products such as house pads, driveways and footpaths. It is also used in other popular products like mortars, grouts and renders.
Low Heat (LH)
(Approximately 35% normal GP cement with 65% GGBFS)
LH is a GP cement blended with a supplementary cementitious material called Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS). It is ideal for use in mass concrete structures where rate of temperature rise and maximum temperature achieved is controlled to reduce the risk of thermal cracking.
- Under AS3972, LH cement requires the peak temperature to reach no more than 23 degrees Centigrade.
- LH cement also meets the requirements of AS3972 for classification as a Sulfate Resisting (Type SR) cement.
- Another popular use for LH cement is for mining paste-fill, due to its slower setting profile and similar 28-day setting strengths to GP.
High Early (HE)
HE strength cement is a special purpose cement complying with AS3972. It is manufactured from Portland Cement clinker and gypsum, and is more finely ground than standard GP cement.
HE strength cement can replace GP Cement in all applications, but is typically used where higher than normal early strengths are required. This is usually in concrete product applications like roof tiles, soak wells, lids, pipes, precast and tilt-up concrete, and where early stripping of formwork is desired.
Ultra Creme (UC)
UC strength cement is a special purpose, off-white cement, complying with AS3972. Also manufactured from Portland Cement clinker and gypsum, the composition and the fineness of BGC’s UC strength cement typically delivers faster strength gain when compared to coarser cements. It is often used in the manufacturing of retaining walls, panels, pre-cast and tilt up, blocks, bricks, pavers or ornaments. Its high early strength, or ‘fast strength’, gives you excellent turnaround on moulded products and formwork.
Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS)
GGBFS, also known as Bulk Milled Slag, is produced by quenching molten iron slag (a by-product of iron and steel-making) from a blast furnace in water, producing a granular product that is then dried and ground into a fine powder. GGBFS is typically used in concrete or mining backfill applications that require a lower heat of hydration, and where resistance to aggressive ground water and adverse environmental conditions are present. Early age strength development is slower than straight cement concrete. However, strength development from 28 days onwards is equivalent or better.
Typical blends have cement between 20% and 40% with the balance being GGBFS. Two examples of these blends are BGC Cement’s Low Heat (LH) and General Blend (GB).