BULE HORA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND

TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF CONSTRUCTION
TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT AND PLANT

MANAGEMENT (CoTM 4163)

1 17-Dec-23
 CHAPTER TWO-PART 1
CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENTS AND THEIR TYPES
Introduction
The efficient and effective implementation of construction projects
requires good management of relationships for and among
resources, activities and stakeholders as applied to the context
where such projects are implemented. Materials, Money, Manpower
and Machineries (the 4 M's) are usual resources recognized in most
situations.
Construction Equipments
Equipment types used in construction project is largely dependent on their:
1.Direct input to unit prices or not
2.Scope of work
3.Type of work or trades
4.Mobility
5.System of control and
6.Availability
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 Equipment Types
1) Based on direct input to unit prices
Are classified into two major categories.
Productive equipments and
Supportive equipments.
Productive equipments: are those units that alone or in combination
lead to an end product which can be recognized as a unit for payment.
 Productive Equipments include pavers, haulers, loaders, rollers,
entrenchers; etc
Supportive equipments: are those equipments which are required for
operations related to the placement of construction such as movement
of personnel and materials, and activities that influence the placement
of environment.
 Supportive Equipments include hoists, lighting sets, vibrators,
3scaffolds and heaters.
17-Dec-23
Equipment types (cont…)
2) based on scope of work
 heavy construction or
 light construction works or services
 Generally, Road and Hydro Power works, Large Irrigation
schemes, Water Supply and Sewage plants and High Rise buildings
are categorized as heavy constructions because they involve large
quantities of fluid or semi fluid materials such as earth, concrete,
asphalt to be moved, sprayed and placed requiring use of large
equipments. Such construction works are called equipment
intensive.
 Low rise buildings, water supply and sewerage lines, electric and
telecommunication lines and small irrigation schemes can be
categorized as light construction where few use of equipments
could be employed and largely focusing on tool utilizations and
4
hence are called labor intensive construction works or services.
17-Dec-23
• Since construction equipments are very costly and
are capital intensive; most construction companies
in developing countries do not either possess them
or have sufficient access to them through renting or
leasing mechanisms.
• Therefore, the use and type of construction
equipments in these countries heavily demand to
restrict the use of available equipments to heavy
construction works according to their priority.
• In most cases labor intensive approach to
execution replacing construction equipments are
largely practiced.
5 17-Dec-23
Equipment types (cont…)
3) based on trade of work
These include:
Earth Works Equipments,
Hauling and Hoisting Equipments,
Pile-driving equipments,
Pumping Equipments and
 Asphalt & Concrete works
Equipments.
6 17-Dec-23
Equipment types (cont…)
4.based on degree of the Equipments mobility
they are :
Stationary or
Mobile.
Besides, due to their mobility, their running gear provided
classifications such as crawler or pneumatic tired or rail
mounted.
5) Based on system of control
manually operated equipments and
mechanically operated equipments.
They can also be, hydraulically, pneumatically or
7electronically controlled equipments. 17-Dec-23
 • Earth work
Definition: ‐Earth work is a process of
moving soil or rock from one location
to the other and processing it, so that it
meets construction requirements of
location, elevation, density, moisture
content, etc.

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1. Earth work Equipments
These equipments are mainly used to cut, fill,
compact, drill and blast earth, rocks and
any removable thing than to move them to a
certain distance, so that it meets construction
requirements of location, elevation, density,
moisture content, etc.
Earth work equipments are broadly classified
into earth moving and compaction
equipments.
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17-Dec-23
1.1.Earth moving equipments
Excavating and Loading equipments
 These are construction equipments used to excavate
and load earth materials for various purposes.
• The major types of excavator equipments used in
earth moving operations include hydraulic excavators
and the member of the cable – operated crane shovel
family (Shovels, draglines, hoes, and clamshells).
Dozers, loaders and scrapers serve as excavators.
• Most of the excavators and loaders are used as
loading equipments in earth moving operations.
10 17-Dec-23
 The common activities in earthwork are
Excavating, hauling, loading, placing
(damp & spread), grading, compacting
and finally finishing.
Among these/earth moving and
compaction equipments/, this course
explained Bulldozers, Shovels, Graders and
Loaders from earth moving earthwork
equipments and Rollers from compaction
earthwork equipments as follows.
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 Crawler Dozers Wheel Dozers

Backhoe Loader/EXCAVATOR
Excavator/power shovel Grader

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 1.2. Compaction and Stabilization Equipments

The function of compaction equipment is to produce

higher density in soil mechanically.
The basic forces used in compaction are static weight,
kneading, impact and vibration:
• Static weight – Pressure
• Kneading – manipulation or rearranging
• Impact – sharp blow and
• Vibration ‐ shaking
The degree of compaction that may be achieved depends on
the properties of soil, its moisture content, the thickness
of the soil layer for compaction and the method of
compaction.

13 17-Dec-23
 The function of grading equipment is to bring the earthwork to the
desired shape and elevation.
Major types of grading equipment include motor graders and grade
trimmers. The former is an all‐purpose machine for grading and
surface finishing, while the latter is used for heavy construction
because of its higher operating speed.
 Many types of compacting equipments, which incorporate at least
one or more of the compaction methods, are available, including:
1. Sheep's foot Rollers
2. Tamping Rollers
3. Smooth drum vibratory soil compactors
4. Pad drum vibratory soil compactors
5. Pneumatic tired rollers.
 In addition manually operated vibratory – plate compactors are
commonly used for consolidating soils and asphalt concrete in
14 locations where large units are not practical. 17-Dec-23
 Compaction
 Vibrating plates:
 Range from hand-
guided machines to
larger roller
combinations
 Suitable for: most soils
with low to moderate
fines content
 Unsuitable for: large
volume work; wet
clayey soils
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  Power rammer:
 Also called a 'trench
tamper'
 Hand-guided
pneumatic tamper
 Suitable for: trench
back-fill; work in
confined areas
 Unsuitable for: large
volume work

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17 17-Dec-23
 Rollers
 Smooth footed roller:
 Self-propelled or towed steel
rollers.
 Suitable for: well-graded sands
and gravels
silts and clays of low plasticity
 Unsuitable for: uniform sands;
silty sands; soft clays

• Grid roller:
– Towed units with rolls of 30-50 mm bars,
with spaces between of 90-100 mm
– Suitable for: well-graded sands; soft
rocks; stony soils with fine fractions
– Unsuitable for: uniform sands; silty
sands; very soft clays
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 Sheep-foot roller:
 Also known as a 'tamping
roller'
 Self propelled or towed
units, with hollow drum
fitted with projecting
club-shaped 'feet'
 Suitable for: fine grained
soils; sands and gravels,
with >20% fines
 Unsuitable for: very coarse
soils; uniform gravels

19 17-Dec-23
 Pneumatic rollers:
 Usually a container on
two axles, with rubber-
tyred wheels.
 Wheels aligned to give
a full-width rolled track.
 Suitable for: most
coarse and fine soils.
 Unsuitable for: very
soft clay; highly
variable soils

20 17-Dec-23
 ASSIGNMENT-01
Write the definition and purpose of the following
Earthwork Equipments (in group of five
members)
1. Bulldozers (Dozers)
a. Wheel Dozers
b. Crawler Dozers
2. Shovels (power shovels)/ excavators/
a. Face Shovels
b. Backhoe shovels
3. Drag Line
4. Loaders
5. Clamshells
6. Graders(Motor Graders)
21 7. Scrappers 17-Dec-23
 2. Hauling and Hoisting Equipments
Because hauling or the transportation of excavation is
a major earthmoving activity, there are many different
types of hauling equipment available to the contractor.
In addition to the dozer and loader, hauling equipment
includes trucks, wagons, scrapers, conveyor belts,
Tractors and trains.
Such equipments are used to transport materials for
relatively longer distances.

 Hoisting equipments are used for vertical transportation.

Cranes, Heavy Cranes and Tower Cranes are commonly
used.
22
17-Dec-23
 Dump Trucks:- They are hauling equipments
with a provision for either rear or bottom or side
dumping of their loads operated by either rigid or
articulated frames for dumping;

Dump Trucks

23
17-Dec-23
Articulated Dump Trucks
 CRANES:
CRANES: a large lifting machine used to lift and move heavy
objects by means of a hook attached to cables suspended
from a supporting, usually movable, beam, roofs & any
other structures.
Cranes are a broad class of construction equipment used to
hoist and place loads.

24 17-Dec-23
 Types of Cranes
 There are three types of cranes for construction industry in
the world.
These are:
1.Mobile Cranes
 2.Tower Cranes
 3.Overhead Cranes
 The two major factors that influence lifting and hoisting
capacity of crane:
Its structural strength
Its tipping moments

25 17-Dec-23
26 17-Dec-23
 1. Mobile Cranes

Mobile Cranes are a type of cranes that provides lower lifting height
and they suitable for lower rise buildings.
Types of mobile cranes:
a) Crawler cranes:- are crane which are useful when the ground is
poor, that is soft of rough terrain.
b) Cantilever boom cranes:- is a crane that is pivoted at higher
position on the super structure and provides greater clearance; by
facilitating the handling of bulky loads.
c) Mobile telescopic boom cranes:- is a type of mobile crane which
is quickly moves from site to site in a particular area (20-30
km/hr).
d) Truck mounted telescopic boom cranes:- it is fixed or
mounted on the truck, for the movement from one place to another.
Is used on the public highways for lifting operations.
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 Crawler cranes

Mobile telescopic boom cranes

28 17-Dec-23
 2. Tower Cranes/Stationary Cranes/
Tower Cranes are a type of cranes that provides higher lifting
height and they have a good working radius while taking up a
vey limited area. It is suitable for high rise buildings.
Its capacity depends on: - operating radius
- amount of counter weight
- the mounting
Types of tower cranes/stationary cranes:
a) Guy Derrick Cranes b) Derrick Cranes

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30 17-Dec-23
Tower Cranes
31 17-Dec-23
 3. Overhead Cranes
Overhead Cranes:- are cranes normally used for industrial
complex where transferring of equipments is limited only
industrial area.
Are cranes most commonly used in pre-stressing plant,
where structural members are critical.

Types of overhead cranes:

a) Gantry cranes:- cranes used for handling loads over a
rectangular area.
b) Overhead travelling cranes:- are also cranes used for
handling loads over a rectangular area.

32 17-Dec-23
 Overhead Cranes

33
17-Dec-23
 Overhead Cranes Gantry cranes

34 17-Dec-23
 3. Pile-driving equipments
 Piles driving equipments or commonly called pile hammers are
used to furnish the energy required to drive a pile into a soil or rock
stratum .
 Pile – driving hammers are designated by type and size.
 The hammer types commonly used include:
I. Drop
II. Single – acting steam or compressed air
II. Double – acting steam or compressed air
IV. Differential – acting steam or compressed air
V. Diesel
VI. Hydraulic
VII. Vibratory Drivers types commonly used
include:
35 17-Dec-23
For each of the first six pile hammer types listed the
driving energy is supplied by a falling mass that
strikes the top of the pile.
The size of a drop hammer is designated by its
weight, whereas the size of each of the other
hammers is designated by theoretical energy per
blow(drive).

36 Single Acting Hammer Equipment

17-Dec-23
Pile Driving Equipment
 I.Drop Hammer:
 A drop hammer is a heavy metal weight that is lifted by a hoist
line, then released and allowed to fall onto the top of the pile.
Because of the high dynamic forces, a pile cap is positioned
between the hammer and the pile head.
 The pile cap serves to uniformly distribute the blow to the pile
head and to serves as a “shock absorber.”
 Drop hammers are suitable for driving piles on remote
projects that require only a few piles and for which the time
of completion is not important factor.
 Drop hammers have small investment, simple in operation and
ability to vary energy per blow by varying the height of fall.
However, drop hammers are slow in driving piles; involve
danger of damaging hammer and adjacent property.

17-Dec-23
 II. Single – acting steam or compressed air:
 A single acting steam/air hammer has a freely falling
weight, called a “ram,” that is lifted by steam or
compressed air, whose pressure is applied to the underside of
a piston that is connected to the ram through a piston rod.
The advantages of single – acting steam/air compared with
drop hammers include:
• Greater number of blows per minute permits faster
driving
• Better energy utilization
• Can be used for underwater driving
However the disadvantages include:
Higher investment and increased operating cost
Require a crane and a larger crew
38 Require longer time to set up and take down
 III. Double – Acting Steam/Air Hammers

 In such drivers steam or air pressure is applied to the underside

of the piston to raise the ram; then during the downward stroke
steam is applied to the topside of the piston to increase the
energy per blow:

IV. Differential‐Acting Steam/Air HA

Is a modified single‐acting hammer in that steam/air pressure
used to lift the ram is not exhausted at the end of the upward
stroke but is valved over the piston to accelerate the ram on
the down‐stroke.
 This hammer will drive a pile in one‐half the time required by
the same‐size single‐acting hammer and in doing so will use
25 to 35% less steam or air. These hammers are available in
open or closed types.
39 17-Dec-23
 V. Diesel Hammers
 A diesel pile‐driving hammer is a self‐contained driving unit
that does not require an external source of energy such as a
steam boiler or an air compressor.
 In this respect it is simpler and more easily moved from one
location to another than a steam hammer.
 A complete unit consists of a vertical cylinder, a piston or ram,
an anvil, fuel‐and lubricating‐oil tanks, a fuel pump, injectors,
and a mechanical lubricator.

40 17-Dec-23
 VII .Vibratory Pile Driver
Diesel Pile Driving Equipment Equipment

41 17-Dec-23
 4. Pumping Equipments ‐ Water
Pumps are used extensively on construction projects for
such operations as:
1. Removing water from pits, tunnels, and
other excavations
2. Dewatering cofferdams
3. Furnishing water for jetting and sluicing
4. Furnishing water for many types of utility
services
5. Lowering the water table for excavations
6. Foundation grouting
42 17-Dec-23
 CLASSIFICATION OF PUMPS

The pumps commonly used on construction projects can

be classified as:
1. Displacement:
a. Reciprocating (piston)
b. Diaphragm
2. Centrifugal:
a. Conventional
b. Self‐priming
c. Self‐priming trash
d. Submersible
e. Multistage

43 17-Dec-23
 Reciprocating Pumps
 A reciprocating pump operates as the result of the
movement of a piston inside a cylinder.
 When the piston is moved in one direction, the water ahead
of the piston is forced out of the cylinder. At the same time,
additional water is drawn into the cylinder behind the
piston.
 The capacity of a reciprocating pump depends essentially on
the speed at which the pump is operated and is independent
of the head.
 The maximum head at which a reciprocating pump
will deliver water depends on the strength of the component
parts of the pump and the power available to operate the
pump. The capacity of this type of pump may be varied
considerably by varying the speed of the pump.
44 17-Dec-23
The advantages of reciprocating pumps are:
1.They are able to pump at a uniform rate against varying
heads.
2. Increasing the speed can increase their capacity.
3. They have reasonably high efficiency regardless of the head
and speed.
4. They are usually self‐priming.
The disadvantages of reciprocating pumps are:
1. Heavy weight and large size for a given capacity.
2. Possibility of valve trouble, especially in pumping water
containing abrasive solids.
3. Pulsating (energetic)flow of water.
4. Danger of damaging a pump when operating against a high
45
head. 17-Dec-23
 Types of Pumps

Reciprocating Pump Diaphragm Pumps

46 Self Priming Pump Submersible Pump

 5.Asphalt and concrete work equipments
Paving Equipments
• Pavers can either be Asphalt or Concrete Paving.
 Both use Construction equipment called Pavers such as Slip-form pavers
whose functions are spreading, vibrating, striking off, consolidating, and
finishing pavement works to prescribed cross section and profile with
minimum manual work.
 It is a speedy and economical way for producing smooth and durable asphalt
and concrete pavements.
 A paving operation requires several pieces of equipment. These include
 Sweeper/brooms for removing dust from the surface to be paved. Trucks for
transporting the asphalt from the plant to the construction site.
 Asphalt distributor truck for applying the prime tack, or seal coats.
 Asphalt Paver.
 Rollers.
47
 Asphalt Paver. Sweeper/brooms

48 17-Dec-23
Asphalt distributor truck
 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 port land 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 is capable of transporting 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 slip
form pavers that are capable of spreading, consolidating and
finishing a concrete slab without the use of forms.
49 17-Dec-23
 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.

50
17-Dec-23
Concrete and Asphalt Machines
Concrete Works:
Concrete consists of Portland cement, water, and aggregate
that has been mixed together, placed, consolidated, and
allowed to solidify and harden. The equipments used
batching, mixing and placing will be covered here after.
Generally concrete works involve:
•Batching the materials (could be done on site in a
batch plant)
•Mixing (also onsite mixing or plant mixing)
•Transporting (may demand hauling from batch
plants to site as well as pumping to position)
•Placing,
•Consolidating,
•Finishing and curing works
Concrete Works/Batching Equipments

 Mixer: can be of the

 ‘fixed’ type (readily available on
market for different capacities (250,
300, etc liters)
 the truck mixers: are often used to
haul concrete from batch plants to
work places
 A plasticizer may be added to concrete
to reduce setting
 Will often have powering units attached
to them
Concrete Works/Batching Equipments

 Pumps: Are used to pump fluid

material (particularly concrete and
water to a particular location)
 Capacity of pump, concrete
fluidity, height of fall, etc need
assessing before use.
 Vibrators: are used to consolidate
concrete
Asphalt works

 Asphalt milling machines:

 Used to remove existing (damaged)
asphalt road and directly load it onto a
hauler
 Production is fundamentally a function
of milling speed
 The machine’s forward speed is
determined, primarily, by aggregate
type, asphalt bond strength and depth of
cut
 Tooth wear is also a very important
component in productivity and cost.
Asphalt works mixing plants

 Asphalt boiler:
Used to boil
asphalt for
spreading-
especially in
surface treatment
works.
 • Broom (power
broom/sweeper):
Used to broom dust
before application of
priming/asphalt/surfa
ce treatment
Could be of rotary or
drag type

56 17-Dec-23
Asphalt works mixing plants

 Asphalt spreader/distributor:
 Used to speared asphalt in
priming (cut back asphalt) or
surface treatment works;
 Often made to maintain
temperature
 Application of spreading can
be calculated with respect to
design specifications or as
directed by the Engineer
 Aggregate Production Plants
 Aggregates are used for concrete and Asphalt
or Asphalt Concrete pavement works.
 Since such materials require quarries where
abundant row materials exist, their production
requires a special place than the construction
site.
 Hot mixed asphalt is produced at a central
plant and transported to the paving site in
trucks.
58
 •An asphalt plant is a high‐tech group
of machines capable of uniformly
blending, heating, and mixing the
aggregates and asphalt cement of asphalt
concrete, while at the same time meeting
strict environmental regulations,
particularly in the area of air emissions.
•Drum and batch plants are the two
most common plant types.
59 17-Dec-23
 Aggregate Production Plants

60 17-Dec-23
 10Q
4UR
ATTENTION!
61 17-Dec-23
 Quiz
1.Define the followings
a) Labor intensive construction
b) Equipment intensive construction
2.Discuss briefly earth work equipments
3.describe hauling equipments and give at least
three examples of such equipments used for this
purpose.
4.What are common activities to be executed in
earth work?
62 17-Dec-23