10/30/2008
Why use plants and machineries?
Construction Plants and
Machineries
Why use plants and
machineries?
• Maintain a planned rate of production where
there is a shortage of skilled or unskilled labour
• Maintain the high standards often required by
present-day design and specifications.
Choice of Plant and Machineries
The importance of making the right
choice:
• Increase efficiency and
• profitability of the construction
operation.
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• Increase rate of output
• Reduce overall building costs for large
contracts
• Carry out activities which cannot be done
manually or to do them more economically
• Eliminate heavy manual work thus reducing
fatigue and increase productivity of manual
workers.
Manual rodding, sometimes the Popoff Inc. workers use a
only way to get the job done, self-propelled laser screed,
takes a lot of time and requires requiring minimal pushing
awkward postures and and pulling while producing
repetitive, high-pinch forces, as a higher quality finish in less
this worker is demonstrating. time.
Selection
Selection depends on:
1. Size of operations
– How much excavation, how much concrete,
how high the lifting
– If proposed structure occupies the whole of
site it could eliminate the use of large batch
concrete mixers, dumpers and cement
storage silos.
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Selection Selection
2. Type of operations 5. Staff availability
– New work or restoration. – Competent person to select type of plant
3. Construction method – Plant operator must be a trained man
– Prefabricated or on site work. – Trained person for maintenance and
schedule for the plant maintenance must be
4. Time allowed
followed.
– Contract period and finishing date.
.

Selection Selection
6. Soil conditions 8. Safety
– Wet sites require plant with caterpillar tracks – Governed by law eg Health and Safety at work
– Dry sites are suitable for track and wheeled – Construction regulations
vehicles. 9. Noise emission
7. Access to site – Under health and safety at work provision is made
for the protection of workers against noise
– Congested town sites limit use of many types of
– Local authority requirements
machineries and plant • The type of machineries prohibited
– Allowable weight and height of machineries to be • Hours during which works may be carried out
transported to site. • Level of noise permitted during specific hours.

Decision on Buying or Hiring Decision on Buying or Hiring

• Advantage of buying • Advantage of hiring plants
– Plant is available when required – Hired as required and for short periods
– Cost of idle time caused by inclement – Hire firms are responsible for repairs and
weather, work being behind planned replacements
programme or delay in deliveries of
– Contractor is not left with expensive plant after
material will generally be less on owned
completion of contract
plant than hired
– Hire rates can include operator, fuel and oil.
– Builders can apportion the plant costs to
the various contracts using the plant.

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 10/30/2008

Economic Proposition Construction Plants Classifications

– Large items of plant need to be employed Construction
plants
continuously and not left idle for and machineries
considerable period of time
– Careful maintenance
• Increase working life Small powered Earthworks Transporting
plant plant plant
• Plant failure cause serious delays and
disruptions of programme
Lorries, Trucks,
Electric hand tools, Excavate, Fill,
Dumpers, Fork lift
Vibrators, Compact,
Elevators,
Pumps Transport
Cranes

Earthworks Plant and Machineries Excavation

• Process of earthworks: Factors for consideration:
– Excavate existing land • Type of excavated material
to suitable
formation/reduced • from soil investigation
level (cut)
1. Bulking factor = volume after excavation
– Formation of
volume before excavation
embankments (fill)
– Disposal of the volume after compaction
products of excavation 2. Shrinkage factor =
volume before excavation
– Compaction
• Diggability – ease of digging

Excavation
– Diggability
• classifies soil into digging scales:
– E Easy digging - Loose free running soils
eg sands, fine gravels
– M Medium - Denser cohesive soils eg
clayey gravel, low PI clays
– M-H Medium to Hard - Eg broken rock, wet
heavy clay, gravel with boulders
–H Hard - Material requiring blasting and
hard high PI clays
Excavation
– Trafficability
• Sands/Gravels
– Free Draining. Tend to have few problems.
• High PI Clays
– Low permeability will prevent water ingress so the
surface becomes dangerous but not in the long term.
• Silts/Low PI Clays
– These cause the most problems. Permeability allows
ingress which softens the soils thus weakening them.

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 10/30/2008

Material Bulk Bulking Shrinkage Diggability

Density Factor Factor
Mg/m3 Bulldozer
Clay (Low PI) 1.65 1.30 M
Clay (High PI) 2.10 1.40 0.90 M-H
• Primarily for land
Clay and Gravel 1.80 1.35 - M-H
clearing and
Sand 2.00 1.050 0.89 E
excavation up to a
Sand & Gravel 1.95 1.15 - E
depth of 400 mm
Gravel 2.10 1.050 0.97 E
Chalk 1.85 1.50 0.97 E
• Pushing soil, levelling,
stripping of top soil
Shales 2.35 1.50 1.33 M-H
Limestone 2.60 1.63 1.36 M-H • Generally tracked
Sandstone 2.50 1.60 - M • Incorporate hydraulic
(Porous) attachments
Sandstone 2.65 1.61 1.34 M-H
(cemented)
Basalt 2.95 1.64 1.36 H
Granite 2.41 1.72 1.33 H

Bulldozer Scrapper

– Excavate
– Transport soil
– Capable of
producing very
smooth and
accurate
formation level

Skimmer
Grader
• Grader
– Used to level out
– Excavation deposited fill
where great
– Cannot excavate
accuracy is
required

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 10/30/2008

Backhoe Face shovel

Excavator
• Excavating – Excavating into
basement and face of
trenches embankment

Dragline Excavator Dragline Excavator

– Excavation below
level of machine
– For loose and soft
soil
– Bulk excavation
where fine limits
are not important

Trench Digging Machine Backhoe-loader

• Versatility and compact
make it the most popular
urban construction
machines
Tasks:
• small demolitions
• light transportation of
building materials
• digging holes
• breaking asphalt

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 10/30/2008

Safety in Excavation Safety in Excavation

• MS 282:Part 2 code of practice for safety and health for • Avoid the operation of equipment near the top edge of an
excavation work excavation because this increases the chance of slope
• The location of underground utilities and other hazards failure
should be determined before starting an excavation • No material deposited within 1.5 m of the trench edge
• The sides of excavation must be properly shored or
sloped to the angle of repose (self supporting angle) to • Ensure that workers are not allowed under loads being
prevent cave-ins handled by excavators or hoist
• Shoring must be provided if depth of excavation is over
1.2 m
• When workers are required to enter a trench excavation
1.2 m or more in depth a safe mean of egress eg
stairway, ladder, ramp must be provided

Safety in Excavation Trench Excavation

and Safety
• Watch out for buried lines and containers when Features
excavating. Possible hazards include:
– Toxic and flammable gases
– Electricity
Examples of angles of
– Collapse of side slope caused by sudden release of liquids repose:
• Daily inspection of excavations by a competent person to Dry clay – 46 º
ensure safe working conditions wet clay – 16 º
dry sand – 40 º
• A fence a barrier around all excavations over 2 m deep
wet sand – 22 º

Compaction Compactor
• To increase density of soil • Gasoline
driven
• To increase bearing capacity of soil
vibratory
• Reduce soil compressibility compactor
• Reduce water penetration • Construction
• Reduce the possibility of soil erosion of side walk

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 10/30/2008

Compactor Transporting Plant

• Movement of material around and within
Single drum vibratory Single drum pad foot
compactor vibrator
building site
– Lorries and trucks
– Dumpers
– Fork lift trucks
– Elevators and conveyors
– Cranes

Dump Trucks Fork Lift

– Transferring material
from one part of the
site to another
– Wheeled vehicles
– Lack of traction
– Always the first to get
stuck

Elevators Cranes
Classification
• Mobile cranes
• Static or stationary cranes
• Tower cranes

Material
elevator

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 10/30/2008

Mobile Mobile
Cranes Cranes

Static Crane Tower Crane

Tower crane
• Fix to the ground
• Combination of height and
lifting capacity –
• Construction of tall building

Tower Crane Tower Crane

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 10/30/2008

Tower Crane Safety

Poor set-up account to

many crane tip-overs

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