CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT

SUBMITTED TO: DR.SHARMIN KHAN

SUBMITTED BY : ADEEBA BILQUEES
15 ARB 560 B.ARCH 4TH YR
 Construction Equipment
Heavy construction equipment are used for various
purposes in large projects. Selection of different types of
heavy equipment depends on the size of the work and
economy of the project. These make construction process
easier and faster
Types of Heavy Construction Equipment
Different types of heavy equipment commonly used in the
construction are as follows:
Excavators
Backhoe
Dragline Excavator
Bulldozers
Graders
Wheel Tractor Scraper
Trenchers
Loaders
Tower Cranes
Pavers
Compactors
Telehandlers
Feller Bunchers
Dump Trucks
Pile Boring Machine
Pile Driving Machine

1. Excavators
Excavators are important and widely used equipment in
construction industry. Their general purpose is to
excavation but other than that they are also used for many
purposes like heavy lifting, demolition, river dredging,
cutting of trees etc.
Excavators contains a long arm and a cabinet. At the end of
long arm digging bucket is provided and cabinet is the place
provided for machine operator. This whole cabin
arrangement can be rotatable up to 360o which eases the
operation. Excavators are available in both wheeled and
tracked forms of vehicles
2. Backhoe
Backhoe is another widely used equipment which is
suitable for multiple purposes. The name itself telling that
the hoe arrangement is provided on the back side of vehicle
while loading bucket is provided in the front.

This is well useful for excavating trenches below the

machine level and using front bucket loading, unloading
and lifting of materials can be done.

3. Dragline Excavator
Dragline excavator is another heavy equipment used in
construction which is generally used for larger depth
excavations. It consists a long length boom and digging
bucket is suspended from the top of the boom using cable.
For the construction of ports, for excavations under water,
sediment removal in water bodies etc. can be done by
dragline excavator.
4. Bulldozers
Bulldozers are another type of soil excavating equipment which are
used to remove the topsoil layer up to particular depth. The removal of
soil is done by the sharp edged wide metal plate provided at its front.
This plate can be lowered and raised using hydraulic pistons.
These are widely used for the removal of weak soil or rock strata,
lifting of soil etc.

5. Graders
Graders also called as motor graders are another type of equipment
used in construction especially for the construction of roads. It is
mainly used to level the soil surface. It contains a horizontal blade in
between front and rear wheels and this blade is lowered in to the
ground while working. Operating cabin is provided on the top of rear
axle arrangement.
Motor Graders are also used to remove snow or dirt from the roads, to
flatten the surface of soil before laying asphalt layer, to remove
unnecessary soil layer from the ground etc.

6. Wheel Tractor Scrapers

Wheel Tractor Scrapers are earth moving equipment used to provide
flatten soil surface through scrapping. Front part contains wheeled
tractor vehicle and rear part contain a scrapping arrangement such as
horizontal front blade, conveyor belt and soil collecting hopper.
When the front blade is lowered onto the ground and vehicle is
moved, the blade starts digging the soil above the blade level and the
soil excavated is collected in hopper through conveyor belt. When the
hopper is full, the rear part is raised from the ground and hopper is
unloaded at soil dump yard.

7. Trenchers
Trenchers or Trenching machines are used to excavate trenches in
soil. These trenches are generally used for pipeline laying, cable
laying, drainage purposes etc. Trenching machines are available in
two types namely chain trenchers and wheeled trenchers.
Chain trenchers contains a fixed long arm around which digging chain
is provided. Wheeled trenchers contains a metal wheel with digging
tooth around it. To excavate hard soil layers, wheeled trenchers are
more suitable. Both types of trenchers are available in tracked as well
as wheeled vehicle forms.

8. Loaders
Loaders are used in construction site to load the material onto
dumpers, trucks etc. The materials may be excavated soil, demolition
waste, raw materials, etc. A loader contain large sized bucket at its
front with shorter moving arm.
Loader may be either tracked or wheeled. Wheeled loaders are
widely used in sites while tracked or crawled loaders are used in sites
where wheeled vehicles cannot reach
9. Tower Cranes
Tower cranes are fixed cranes which are used for hoisting purposes
in construction of tall structures. Heavy materials like pre-stressed
concrete blocks, steel trusses, frames etc. can be easily lifted to
required height using this type of equipment.
They consists mast which is the vertical supporting tower, Jib which is
operating arm of crane, counter jib which is the other arm carries
counter weight on rear side of crane and an operator cabin from
which the crane can be operated.
10. Paver
Paver or Asphalt paver is pavement laying equipment which is used
in road construction. Paver contains a feeding bucket in which
asphalt is continuously loaded by the dump truck and paver
distributes the asphalt evenly on the road surface with slight
compaction. However a roller is required after laying asphalt layer
for perfect compaction.

11. Compactors
Compactors or Rollers are used to compact the material or earth
surface. Different types of compactors are available for different
compacting purposes.
Smooth wheel rollers are used for compacting shallow layers of
soil or asphalt etc. sheep-foot rollers are used for deep compaction
purposes. Pneumatic tyred rollers are used for compacting fine
grained soils, asphalt layers etc.

12. Telehandlers
Telehandlers are hoisting equipment used in construction to lift
heavy materials up to required height or to provide construction
platform for workers at greater heights etc. It contains a long
telescopic boom which can be raised or lowered or forwarded.

Different types of arrangements like forklifts, buckets, cabin,

lifting jibs etc. can be attached to the end of telescopic boom
based on the requirement of job.

13. Feller Bunchers

Feller buncher is tree cutting heavy equipment used to remove
large trees in the construction field. They cut the tree and grab it
without felling, likewise gathers all the cut down trees at one
place which makes job easier for loaders and dump trucks.

14. Dump Trucks

Dump trucks are used in construction sites to carry the material in
larger quantities from one site to another site or to the dump yard.
Generally, in big construction site, off-road dump trucks are used.
These off-road dump trucks contains large wheels with huge
space for materials which enables them to carry huge quantity of
material in any type of ground conditions.

15. Pile Boring Equipment

Pile boring equipment is used to make bore holes in the
construction site to install precast piles.

16. Pile Driving Equipment

Another heavy equipment used in construction site is pile driving
equipment in case of pile foundation construction. This
equipment lifts the pile and holds it in proper position and drives
into the ground up to required depth.
Different types of pile driving equipment are available namely,
piling rigs, piling hammer, hammer guides etc. in any case the
pile is driven into the ground by hammering the pile top which is
done hydraulically or by dropping.

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Construction Equipments for Different Purposes
The selection of the appropriate type and size of construction equipments often affects the required
amount of time and effort and thus the job-site productivity of a project.

It is therefore important for site managers and construction planners to be familiar with the
characteristics of the major types of equipment most commonly used in construction.
Construction Equipments for Excavation and Loading
One family of construction machines used for excavation is broadly classified as a crane-shovel as
indicated by the variety of machines in Figure 1. The crane-shovel consists of three major components:

A carrier or mounting which provides mobility and stability for the machine.
A revolving deck or turntable which contains the power and control units.
A front end attachment which serves the special functions in an operation.
The type of mounting for all machines in Figure 1 is referred to as crawler mounting, which is
particularly suitable for crawling over relatively rugged surfaces at a job site. Other types of mounting
include truck mounting and wheel mounting which provide greater mobility between job sites, but
require better surfaces for their operation.
The revolving deck includes a cab to house the person operating the mounting and/or the revolving
deck. The types of front end attachments in Figure 2 might include a crane with hook, clamshell,
dragline, backhoe, shovel and piledriver.

Figure 1 Typical Machines in the Crane-Shovel Family

A tractor consists of a crawler mounting and a non-revolving cab. When an earth moving blade is attached
to the front end of a tractor, the assembly is called a bulldozer. When a bucket is attached to its front end,
the assembly is known as a loader or bucket loader. There are different types of loaders designed to handle
most efficiently materials of different weights and moisture contents.
Scrapers are multiple-units of tractor-truck and blade-bucket assemblies with various combinations to
facilitate the loading and hauling of earthwork. Major types of scrapers include single engine two-axle or
three axle scrapers, twin-engine all-wheel-drive scrapers, elevating scrapers, and push-pull scrapers. Each
type has different characteristics of rolling resistance, maneuverability stability, and speed in operation.
Figure 2: Some Major Types of Compaction Equipments

Construction Equipments for Drilling and Blasting

Rock excavation is an audacious task requiring special equipment and methods. The degree of difficulty
depends on physical characteristics of the rock type to be excavated, such as grain size, planes of
weakness, weathering, brittleness and hardness.
The task of rock excavation includes loosening, loading, hauling and compacting. The loosening
operation is specialized for rock excavation and is performed by drilling, blasting or ripping.
Major types of drilling equipment are percussion drills, rotary drills, and rotary-percussion drills. A
percussion drill penetrates and cuts rock by impact while it rotates without cutting on the upstroke.
Common types of percussion drills include a jackhammer which is hand-held and others which are
mounted on a fixed frame or on a wagon or crawl for mobility. A rotary drill cuts by turning a bit against the
rock surface. A rotary-percussion drill combines the two cutting movements to provide a faster penetration
in rock.
Blasting requires the use of explosives, the most common of which is dynamite. Generally, electric
blasting caps are connected in a circuit with insulated wires. Power sources may be power lines or
blasting machines designed for firing electric cap circuits.
Also available are non-electrical blasting systems which combine the precise timing and flexibility of
electric blasting and the safety of non-electrical detonation.
Tractor-mounted rippers are capable of penetrating and prying loose most rock types. The blade or ripper
is connected to an adjustable shank which controls the angle at the tip of the blade as it is raised or
lowered. Automated ripper control may be installed to control ripping depth and tip angle.
In rock tunneling, special tunnel machines equipped with multiple cutter heads and capable of excavating
full diameter of the tunnel are now available. Their use has increasingly replaced the traditional methods
of drilling and blasting.
Construction Equipments for Lifting and Erecting
Derricks are commonly used to lift equipment of materials in industrial or building construction. A derrick
consists of a vertical mast and an inclined boom sprouting from the foot of the mast. The mast is held in
position by guys or stiff legs connected to a base while a topping lift links the top of the mast and the top
of the inclined boom.
A hook in the road line hanging from the top of the inclined boom is used to lift loads. Guy derricks may
easily be moved from one floor to the next in a building under construction while stiff leg derricks may be
mounted on tracks for movement within a work area.

Tower cranes are used to lift loads to great heights and to facilitate the erection of steel building frames.
Horizon boom type tower cranes are most common in high rise building construction. Inclined boom type
tower cranes are also used for erecting steel structures.

Construction Equipments for Mixing and Paving

Basic types of equipment for paving include machines for dispensing concrete and bituminous materials
for pavement surfaces. Concrete mixers may also be used to mix Portland cement, sand, gravel and
water in batches for other types of construction other than paving.
A truck mixer refers to a concrete mixer mounted on a truck which can transport ready mixed concrete
from a central batch plant to construction sites. A paving mixer is a self-propelled concrete mixer
equipped with a boom and a bucket to place concrete at any desired point within a roadway. It can be
used as a stationary mixer or used to supply slipform pavers that can spread, consolidating and finishing
a concrete slab without the use of forms.
A bituminous distributor is a truck-mounted plant for generating liquid bituminous materials and applying
them to road surfaces through a spray bar connected to the end of the truck.
Bituminous materials include both asphalt and tar which have similar properties except that tar is not
soluble in petroleum products. While asphalt is most frequently used for road surfacing, tar is used when
the pavement is likely to be heavily exposed to petroleum spills.

Construction Tools and Other Equipments

Air compressors and pumps are widely used as the power sources for construction tools and
equipment. Common pneumatic construction tools include drills, hammers, grinders, saws,
wrenches, staple guns, sandblasting guns, and concrete vibrators. Pumps are used to supply
water or to dewater at construction sites and to provide water jets for some types of construction.
Automation of Construction Equipments
The introduction of new mechanized equipment in construction has had a profound effect on the cost
and productivity of construction as well as the methods used for construction itself. An exciting example
of innovation in this regard is the introduction of computer microprocessors on tools and equipment.
As a result, the performance and activity of equipment can be continually monitored and adjusted for
improvement. In many cases, automation of at least part of the construction process is possible and
desirable.
For example, wrenches that automatically monitor the elongation of bolts and the applied torque can be
programmed to achieve the best bolt tightness. On grading projects, laser controlled scrapers can
produce desired cuts faster and more precisely than wholly manual methods.
In the mid-1980’s, some Japanese firms were successful in obtaining construction contracts for tunneling
in the United States by using new equipment and methods.
For example, the Japanese firm of Ohbayashi won the sewer contract in San Francisco because of its
advanced tunneling technology. When a tunnel is dug through soft earth, as in San Francisco, it must be
maintained at a few atmospheres of pressure to keep it from caving in.
Workers must spend several hours in a pressure chamber before entering the tunnel and several more in
decompression afterwards. They can stay inside for only three or four hours, always at considerable risk
from cave-ins and asphyxiation. Ohbayashi used the new Japanese “earth-pressure-balance” method,
which eliminates these problems. Whirling blades advance slowly, cutting the tunnel.
The loose earth temporarily remains behind to balance the pressure of the compact earth on all sides.
Meanwhile, prefabricated concrete segments are inserted and joined with waterproof seals to line the
tunnel. Then the loose earth is conveyed away.

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