CH.

- 4
FAMILIARIZATION WITH
CONSTRUCTION
EQUIPMENT

Trench Digging M/C

 4.1 ADVANTAGES of Const. equip.

 Large and complex works can be carried

out easily
 Faster rate of work progress
 High quality of work
 Equipments can work in adverse weather,
climatic condition and topography
 Equipment is free from social and
economical factors
 Equipments maintain site safer and
cleaner.
 4.1 DISADVANTAGES of Const.
equipments

 Require huge capital investment

 Needs costly repair and rehab
 Lack of trained & skilled operator
 Replaces large number of labors and raise
unemployment
 Consumes considerable qty. of fuel,
increases project cost
 High rate of equipment depreciation
 Less environment friendly than green
technology
 Earth Moving Equipment

- Generally called earth working equipment

- Three Functions :
 E/W in cutting
 E/W in transportation
 E/W in compaction
- Types :
 Equipment for Excavation
 Equipment for Transportation
 Equipment for Compaction
 4.2 Equipments for Excavation
• Excavators
 Crawler
 Wheel mounted
• Dozers
 Wheel Dozers
 Track Dozers
• Loaders
 Wheel Loaders
 Track Loaders
• Back Hoes – Loaders and Dozers
• Drag Lines
4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
• Clamshell Buckets and Cranes
• Trenching Machines
 Wheel type
 Chain type
 Micro
• Scrappers
• Graders
• Jack Hammers and Pneumatic Drills
 Power Jack Hammer
 Pneumatic Rock Drills
• Air Compressor
4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.1 Excavators
- Used to excavate common soil in construction
- Done by teeth attached to a bucket capable of
loading excavated material directly
- Comes in different capacity and size
- Types :
Crawler mounted / Track mounted (soft soil)
Wheel mounted
Uses: excavate large qty. of E/W above or below
ground in road const., dam, building, airport,
hydropower, etc.
 Excavators

Crawler mounted (Fixed Boom)

Wheel mounted

Crawler mounted (Extendable Boom)

4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.2 Dozers

- Versatile machines for scraping hard surface with

teeth at back and excavating fairly hard earth or
soft rock by blade and teeth/claws combination.
- Capable of handling all types of soil except hard
rock
- Can work in worst condition(water logged and
loose soil)
- Crawler mounted Dozers(Bulldozers) can push
earth and rocks with blade in steep slope & soft
ground
4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.2 Dozers

- Bulldozers have high ground hold and torque

divider that convert engine power to dragging
ability using its own weight to push soil or remove
things from ground
- Pneumatic wheel mounted dozers can move freely
and are more maneuverable at site
- They can push excavated earth to greater distance
with higher speed but have limitation of working in
steep slopes and softer ground
- Wheel mounted dozers can move faster and work
without damaging paved roads.
 Uses of Dozers
-excavating soft or hard rock
- making heap of excavated
materials
- cleaning land of tress or
stumps
- making pilot roads, moving
earth to haul distance
approx.100m

- spreading earth fill, backfilling

trenches
- cleaning const. site of debris
- maintaining haul roads
- ripping rocks.
Dozer
Dozer
 4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.3 Loaders
- Use wide tilting bucket(3~6 m3) at end
of movable arms to lift and move
material around
-Loader assembly may be removable
attachment or permanent mounted on
wheels
-The bucket can be replaced with other
devices such as forks or hydraulically
operated bucket
- used to excavate earth and load into
truck or onto a conveyer belt
-Capable of excavating all types of soil
except hard rock without prior loosening
-Types : crawler mounted & Tire mounted

Uses: loading materials on to trucks,

laying pipe, clearing rubble and also
digging, transporting building materials,
snow & sand removal on highway
 4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.4 Backhoe
-Fall under power shovel group.
-Also called hoe, back shovel, pull
shovel
-Small version of front loaders are
attached with dipper on rear side
and hence called “Backhoe Loader”
-Backhoe can excavate deeper as
compared to loader with the help of
long hoe.
-Because of its excavating as well
as loading capacity, it is useful in
building and small civil project.
-The loading attachment can be replaced with dozing blade called
“Backhoe dozer” used to cutting shallow layer of soft ground and
pushing them to some distance.

Uses: -Grading, leveling, backfilling, trenching and general dozer work

-Due to small size it can be used in digging footing, pits, trenches,
pipe lines in building which require precise control of depth.
- Sometimes used to transfer small loads or concrete in site.
4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.5 Drag Lines
- multipurpose equipment
capable in wide range of
operation in soft to medium hard
soil
-It has a long crane boom and
excavating bucket operated with
cables
-Does not need to go into the
trench in order to excavate but
operate from ground level to
work in pit
-With long boom, it can
dispose/deposit the excavated
material at longer distance
eliminating need for using hauling
equipment
-Types : crawler mounted, wheel-
mounted, truck-mounted, walking
draglines
4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.5 Drag Lines Uses :
-To remove earth from
ditch or canal or pit
containing water as
trucks won’t go into
mud.

- Draglines with long

boom help deposit
earth on banks or dams
eliminating need of
hauling unit

-Excellent for
excavating trenches
without shoring

-Suitable for removal of

material from canal or
rivers
4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.6 Clamshell Buckets
- Used to handle loose
materials such as sand,
gravel, crushed rocks
- For removing the materials
from deep foundation like
cofferdams, pier foundation,
manhole, etc
- Especially used for vertical
lifting of materials using
crane boom
- Excavation is done with the
help of bucket called
“Clamshell Bucket” or “ Grab
Bucket”.
-Available in various size,
teeth are used to dig harder
type materials.
4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.7 Trenching Machine
-Special type of machine to
dig trenches.
-Also called “trenchers”
-Designed for excavating
ditches of considerable
length, varying width and
depth
-used to dig trenches for gas
and oil pipelines and U/G
cables.
-Usually crawler mounted
with increased stability and
deposit weight over a greater
area
-Types : wheel type, chain
type and micro trenching
machine
A Chain Type Trencher
 4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.8 Scrapers -Earth working equipment
-Capable of earth cutting,
storing cut earth in hopper
called bowl, transporting to the
fill location and dumping.
-Self-loading scrapers available
upto 50M3.
- crawler mounted or wheel
mounted

-Efficient when cut & fill areas

are close and sufficient length
to fill hopper
-Not suitable for gravelly and
rocky strata, wet and mud.
-Uses: excavate and fill large
area in road, airport and
filling work
 4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.9 Grader
-For grading road surface.
-Suitable for thin layer excavation
in longer area
-The teeth helps to scarify earth
surface to loosen material which
can be shifted forward or sides by
grading blades
-Blades can rotate up to 270° and
can be raised or lowered at each
side allowing side slope.

-Basically 2 types : self propelled(motor grader ) and towed type.

-Motor grader have own power source but towed type need external
power to drive and operate.
-Motor grader can beof 4 types a)light grader-upto 9 tons, b) medium
grader- 10-12 tons c) heavy grader-13-15 tons and d) very heavy
grader- 17-24 tons.
-Uses: light cutting of E/W in fairly plain surface, used to level and
maintain both longitudinal and transverse grade of road, clearing
snow & land slide and maintenance of rural road.
 4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.10 Jack Hammer & Pneumatic Drills
An excavator mounted hydraulic Jack Hammer
Pneumatic Drills use compressed
air and hence their names which
-Equipment for drilling holes in
hard rock by drilling and blasting
method
-A Jack hammer operates by
driving an internal hammer up and
down
-Engine to drive drilling bit is
mounted over the jack hammer
-Generally used to open track in
mountainous road when air
compressor cannot be taken
Hand held Pneumatic Jack Hammer

can bore hole in hard soil upto 5m

-Here a steel rod hammers the
bottom or borehole and turn
around. The steel rod is equiped
with cutting bit.
-Uses: excavate hard rock,
breaking concrete, tunneling,
mining work.
 4.2 Equipments for Excavation contd…
4.2.11 Air Compressor
- important part of excavating
equipment when excavation is to
be done on hard rock
-Compressor drive drilling
machines to drive hole in rock
-Also called auxillary excavating
equipment
-Relatively small, mobile, simple
and strong with min. maintainence
requirement

- Generate air which is stored in a drum at high pressure to operate

variety of tools in const. site
-Uses: to provide air at sufficient pressure and volume to operate
tools like pneumatic drills, pneumatic circular saw, air-operated
centrifugal pump