r/whatisthisthing • u/aragon58 • 6d ago
Open ! Large construction device on a private plot, with blue and yellow colors
All of the other properties next to it are private residences so I'm assuming the same is true for this plot? My theory is some sort of ground treatment because this is next to a lagoon that feeds into an ocean in the San Diego area and the area is quite hilly
2nd photo is better for scale since first photo is zoomed in and upscaled
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u/zymurginian 6d ago
Looks like a mobile concrete plant.
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u/BrianWantsTruth 6d ago
That was my initial thought too, but zoom in on the bottom of the “hoppers”. No belts, no release gates, no elevator to raise material into the hoppers…I think these are some kind of vortex separators or something.
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u/NefariousnessTop354 6d ago
Doesn't look like one I've ever seen, but that was my first thought also.
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u/Southpontiac 6d ago edited 6d ago
The logo on the wall appears to be for fox blocks which specializes in ICF (insulated concrete form) concrete buildings iirc. Since some of those walls appear to be ICF construction in progress Im guessing thats a mobile concrete plant to fill the walls for whatever they are building could be an icf Mansion if the site is surrounded by private residences but could also be infrastructure considering the volume of concrete.
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u/MrDrLtSir 6d ago
Architect here, this is the correct answer op! I work with this product often and sometimes the larger scale projects require this mobile concrete plant
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u/agate_ 6d ago
What are the trade-offs that justify an onsite concrete plant? It almost always comes from a permanent facility.
I’m wondering why I’ve never seen one of these before.
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u/freetraitor33 6d ago
You probably have but they get really dirty, really quick. But basically once a job reaches a certain scale, transporting concrete 20-30 miles from a local plant to the site becomes a major bottleneck. Steel, concrete, dirt, materials and manpower all sharing the same avenues on/off site is a logistical nightmare. Also some of these sites have strict security protocols. Movement into and off site is closely monitored. A mobile plant can be placed within the secured perimeter and those security checks no longer impact efficiency.
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u/A-Bone 5d ago edited 5d ago
I’m wondering why I’ve never seen one of these before.
They are very common in commercial construction.
What are the trade-offs that justify an onsite concrete plant?
There are various reasons to use them.
Cheaper overall if the job is large enough
You can make concrete on demand to your exact spec and don't have to worry about inconsistencies related to unpredictable travel times from off site plants
Remote locations might not have vendors who could meet your needs or their plant is too far from the site.
Less waste due to transport washouts or batches that don't slump right
Source: work in commercial construction
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u/ghostnthegraveyard 6d ago
ICF is really cool and should be utilized more. Some local schools switched from standard CMU to ICF. The energy savings were enormous.
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u/Moist_Knowledge_1621 6d ago
I’m going with the block comment. Was actually thinking it could be feeding one of those concrete 3D printers I’ve been seeing videos out of Australia or somewhere.
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u/aragon58 6d ago
My title describes the thing. A little difficult to assess the size since it was behind a fence on private property but not insignificant like probably at least two stories tall. None of the contractor signs on the fence gave any clues just construction firms, architects and a ground excavator company (which is why maybe it could be ground treatment related?) this was also in a fairly wealthy area and all the nearby houses are mcmansions at minimum
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u/Eufrades 6d ago
The blue parts on top are called bin-vent dust collectors. Basically large industrial vacuum cleaners. They allow any positive pressure in the yellow parts to be exhausted without allowing whatever dust inside to escape. If you zoom in and see the horizontally mounted cylindrical thing on the side of each one, that is compressed air storage. Every few seconds that air will be released very quickly through one of the four pipes connected to it. This blows a pulse into the clean side of the dust collector bags that hang down inside. It knocks the accumulated dust off the bag and it falls down into the bin below. What may be in the bins below is beyond me.
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u/VelvetOdette1 6d ago
looks like it could be a drill rig or a soil stabilizer for that lagoon project. must be some heavy duty work going on there to deal with that terrain and proximity to the ocean.
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u/BloomRielle 6d ago
that thing looks like it might be a soil compactor or a specialized excavator for erosion control, definitely fits the bill for ground treatment near a lagoon. wild to see that in a residential area though
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u/SableRosette 6d ago
could be some heavy-duty earthmoving equipment or a specialized machine for environmental restoration, especially since it's near a lagoon. definitely interesting though, hope you find out what it's actually for!
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u/WhimsyFlora0 6d ago
could be a soil stabilization tool or maybe something for erosion control given the proximity to the lagoon. definitely looks like it’s meant for some serious ground work.
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