Key to construction projects spanning the full range of sizes (from domestic to heavy industrial) is heavy equipment. The range of description applying to earth moving equipment covers a huge sector of machines that excavate and grade soil and rock. These also serve to increase the pace of earth work, materials handling, demolition and construction.
Vital to construction projects, these heavy construction machines serve a variety of purposes and have many functions. Let’s take a look at the most important machines for major construction projects.
Excavators
Driven by tracks or wheels, excavators are substantial in size, and usually have a 360-degree rotating long bucket arm connected to a pivoting cab. Ensuring a 360-degree line of sight, the operator is positioned in the cab. These machines have added fit for purpose qualities, can be modified with specific attachments for jobs, and are used for river dredging, mining, heavy lifting and pipe installation, rough grading, demolition, brush cutting, excavating trenches and materials handling.
Backhoe Loaders
These machines look like farm tractors, comprising a front adjustable shovel and a back digging bucket. Medium-sized and suitable for small to medium jobs, they can operate in tight spaces. Backhoe loaders place pipes, dig holes and trenches, backfill excavations and move dirt. Ideally suited to urban areas where they can be wheel driven, their back buckets can be altered to dig trenches.
Bulldozers
Considered by many to be the most strong and dependable machines in the construction sector, bulldozers shift dirt along large areas of land, as well as rough or fine grading, and in certain cases crushing boulders. Their front blades are wide and flat, operated by hydraulic pistons which adjust the blades to different angles and depths.
Skid-Steer Loaders
Versatile, these loaders are compact and able to circulate in their own footprint. Similar to a tank, they are suited for confined space work or in regions where work has been completed. They are driven by wheels which lessen soil compacting and disruption to completed areas, with excellent traction in snow and mud. The loaders come in different sizes and can be fitted with different addons for digging, drilling, compacting, log grappling, snow blowing and jack-hammering.
Motor Graders
These move small tranches of dirt and are used for fine grading, gravel roads and preparing road bases prior to asphalt placement, with an adjustable blade that can create a flat surface. Motor graders may be fitted with a second blade in the front axle for mining operations. Also used to make surfaces and drainage ditches with shallow V-shaped cross sections.
Crawler Loaders
A blend of a bucket loader and an excavator, it has tracks for stability and its bucket is suitable for transporting soil and loading material onto vehicles. These machines can be used for small excavations.
Trenchers
These dig trenches for piping and cabling, and comprise multiple sizes, from large trenching machines that can cut into asphalt pavement and other hard surfaces, to small walk-behind versions. Â Trenchers have a conveyer feature to transport the excavated dirt to the adjacent ground. Attaching certain digging implements depends on the trench depth and evacuated material.
Scrapers
These transport material at a rapid pace around a construction project, and dig and level big land areas. Designed mostly for open areas, scarpers are big machines running at high speeds for cut and fill operations. Their sizes range from large (motor scrapers) to small (pull scrapers).
Dump Trucks
Highly useful on construction sites, these machines have the vital function of moving and dumping material that weighs a ton. Dump Trucks are suitable for use on roads and so can transport material to and from site, consisting of a range of sizes depending on the job needs (small with dump beds to extra-large ones for mining.
Tower Cranes
These fixed cranes hoist material for use in construction structures at height, and can lift heavy components such as concrete blocks, steel trusses and frames to the desired height. Tower cranes comprise the mast (vertical supporting tower), jib (operating arm of crane), counter jib (rear counter weight carrying arm) and an operator cabin from which to operate the crane.
Paver
Operating in the construction of roads to lay equipment, these have a feeding bucket into which asphalt is loaded nonstop by the dump truck. After the paver evenly spreads the asphalt on the road surface with a degree of compaction, a roller finishes the required compaction.
Compactors
These compact the material / earth surface, and come in three different types. Smooth wheel rollers compact shallow layers, sheep-foot rollers compact deep layers and pneumatic tyred rollers compact fine materials.
Feller Bunchers
Feller Bunchers are tree cutting and removing heavy equipment. Without felling, they cut and grab trees, gathering them in one location for loaders and dump trucks to remove them.
Pile Driving Equipment
More heavy-duty equipment used for construction sites and areas, specifically for pile foundation procedures. These equipment components lift piles and hold them in the required position, then drives them into the ground at the necessary depth.
Diverse pile driving machines, falling under the banner of pile driving equipment, consist of Piling Rigs, Piling Hammers and Hammer Guides. In all cases, piles are inserted into the ground by repeatedly hammering the pile top, either by dropping or hydraulic methods.