Old timer told me to keep my windows open during a pour, saved me a headache

I was setting up a 90 ton Grove at a site in Akron last Tuesday. The guy running the concrete crew, must have been 60 years old, said crack your cab windows before you lift the bucket. I thought he was messing with me but I did it anyway. Sure enough, the concrete dust and fumes from the pour drifted right into the cab and out the other side. If I had them shut I would have been breathing that stuff all afternoon. Has anyone else tried this or do you just run the AC?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jamie1mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait if the gnats are the price for not breathing concrete dust, do I just accept the crunchy protein supplement? I had a swarm of them come through my cab last August on a bridge pour and I swear I was still spitting out bug parts at dinner. The real pro move is cracking the window just an inch and aiming your fan so the bugs get a one way trip out the other side.

aaron_mitchell1mo ago

Cracked my windows on a 50 tonner once pouring bridge deck in July. The dust blew right through but so did all the gnats. Sometimes you can't win.

nelson.vera1mo ago

Yeah but "the dust blew right through" is kind of the point though, right? I mean it's not about keeping the cab clean, it's about not breathing in concrete dust all shift. I'd rather have gnats for ten minutes than silica in my lungs for the next twenty years. That July heat with the AC off sounds rough but you can always crack the pass side window just a bit and run the fan on recirc. It's not perfect but it beats sucking down dust.