The day has finally arrived to pour the concrete slab and we went out early to check all the levels again. All appears to be fine and nothing has moved.
Two pumps arrived on ahead of schedule and the drivers we both excellent and helpful. However, the self-placing (beton autoplaçant) was a little more labor intensive than expected, which was not really that welcome in temperatures of 35 degrees.
Everything was going really well, until we came to the last section (approx. 2 square metres) and the concrete ran out. Based upon our calculations, we required around 9.5 cubic metres, but we came up short. I still think that we were short changed, but the company confirmed afterwards that 9.5m3 was delivered.
However, the very helpful driver disconnected all of the pumps / pipes and backed the mixer up over the edge of the pool and drained the last remanence out of the truck. That, combined with pulling the cement from the other end of the slab, did the trick and we had the necessary coverage and level for the slab.
With some time wasted having the draw concrete across the length of the slab and the searing temperatures, it was going off fast. To make matters worse, we were working backwards from the freshly poured concrete to the first poor, where the step ladders were located. It was going off rapidly and the finish is not as good at that end of the pool, but that does not matter as will be burred later on to create the shallow end.
Trying to level (agitate) the concrete and spay the curing agent at the same time is a little bit like trying to rub your belly and pat your head at the same time, but we got there in the end.
The end product was quite pleasing and looks relatively level and smooth, albeit I was worried that we had to draw so much concrete from the one end to the other that we may have effected the overall levels. The self-placing concrete would have been excellent if we had the right amount and will be definitely using it again.
