Different Construction Equipments or Machines and Their Uses

Construction Equipments are one of the most important things you must get if you want to enjoy Construction Works.

Construction Equipments are very important when you are dealing with large Construction Projects most Especially Road Construction and some Large Structural Projects.

There are various operations that are involved in construction projects , whether it’s a large scale or a small scale; Excavation and digging of large quantities of earth, Placement of construction materials (concrete) Compacting and leveling, Dozing, Grading, Hauling e.t.c.

Construction equipment can be categorized as follow  based on purpose and use:

 

EARTH MOVING EQUIPMENTS

Earthmoving equipment is heavy equipment, typically heavy-duty vehicles designed for construction operations which involve earthworks. They are used to move large amounts of earth, to dig foundations for landscaping and so on. Earth Moving Equipments are discussed below with there Uses.

[1] EXCAVATOR

An excavator is a construction vehicle used to excavate or move large objects. An Excavator is basically made up of  2 parts: a driving base associated a powerful boom arm with an attachment designed for excavating. The operator sits within a small cab connected to the base and controls the arm. The excavator uses a Hydraulic system to generate a Hydraulic force to control the mechanical arm of the machine. It also uses a chain wheel system for it’s movement.

Excavators are been used in large and small scale constructions. They are used for small housing projects to do a cut and fill, used in road construction, used in marine structures to place armors and large rocks,   and also been used in larger sites to excavate, move construction material, remove construction waste etc. There are several types of excavators which are classified on use, brand and purpose.

The excavator probably is the most commonly used machine in the Construction Industry. The following are the uses of an Excavator.

• Digging of trenches, holes, foundations
• Demolition
• Material handling
• General grading/landscaping
• Brush cutting with hydraulic attachments
• Forestry work
• Lifting and placing of pipes
• Mining, especially, but not only open-pit mining
• River dredging

[2] GRADER

Grader  is a construction machine with a long blade used to create a flat surface. It is commonly called in names such as  road grader, a blade, a maintainer  and  motor grader. Graders are mostly been used in road construction for construction and maintenance of dirt roads and gravel roads. The grader typically consist of  three axles, with the engine and cab situated top, the rear axles at one end of the vehicle and a third axle at the front end of the vehicle, with the blade in between.

In the construction of paved roads they are used to prepare the base course to create a wide flat surface for the asphalt to be placed on.

They  are also used to set native soil foundation pads to finish grade prior to the construction of large buildings.

Many countries use grader for the flatting process that is done before the placing of Asphalt.
Graders too have various types; some consist a large fork front, and some consist of a flat blade front, which vary from different sizes.

A loader is a heavy equipment machine frequently used in construction industry, mainly used to Load
material (such as demolition waste, feed, gravel raw minerals, used material, rock, and plywood) into or onto another type of machinery (such as a dump truckload).Loaders have a very higher productivity and a lower maintenance cost unlike most of the other large scale construction machines. The Loader has a large bucket with a shorter moving arm. Large quantities of material such as soil, construction material, etc can be moved from this. The loader consist of four large wheels for its movement. Loaders are best suited for earth moving, road construction, agricultural purposes, and also in large and small scale constructions which include marine structures. Loaders too are available in various types based on it’s use and brand.

[4] SKID LOADER

A skid loader or skid-steer loader is a small rigid frame, engine-powered machine with lift arms used to attach a wide variety of labor-saving tools or attachments.

Though occasionally they are equipped with tracks, skid-steer loaders are typically four-wheel vehicles with the wheels mechanically locked in synchronization on each side, and the left-side drive wheels can be driven independently of the right-side drive wheels.

[5] CRAWLER LOADER

The crawler loader combines the stability of the crawler tractor with the abilities of a wheel loader.

However, to construct a reliable crawler loader it requires more than simply attaching a loader bucket onto a crawler tractor. It must be considered with its specific purpose in mind to ensure. It has the strength to survive heavy excavating.

The introduction of hydraulic excavators reduced the market for the crawler loader because it was incapable to match the excavator’s lifting power and flexibility.

Crawler loaders are capable of maneuvering across the entire construction site under its own power, whereas most hydraulic excavators require towing or transport. While crawler tractors are still being manufactured today.

[6] BACKHOE

A backhoe, also known a rear actor or back actor, is a section of excavating equipment or digger consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. They are typically mounted on the back of a tractor or front loader.

The section of the arm nearby to the vehicle is known as the boom, and the section which carries the bucket is known as the dipper or dipper stick (the terms “boom” and “dipper” having been used previously on steam shovels). The boom is attached to the vehicle through a pivot known as the kingpost, which allows the arm to slew left and right, usually through a total of around 200 degrees. Modern backhoes are powered by hydraulics.

[7] BULLDOZER

A bulldozer is a crawler (continuous Tracked tractor) with a substantial metal plate used (known as blade) fitted to push  large amounts of soil, sand, dirt or other materials when construction or remodeling and usually push on the back with a claw mechanism (Known as ripper) to loosen densely – compacted materials.

[8] TRENCHER

It is sometimes called as Ditchers or Trenches, are similar to excavators in the sense that penetrate the soil, break soil and rock, and from the earth. They differ from excavators in that the soil is removed in one continuous movement. Digging trenches for pipes used specifically for, but other machines have been improvised in the past in order to serve this purpose. But trenchers can dig trenches at speeds that other machines cannot

Trenchers can come in two types

• Ladder trenchers
• Wheel trenchers

[9] SCRAPER

The scraper is a large piece of equipment used in mining, construction, agriculture and other earth moving applications.

When the hopper is full it is raised, and closed with a vertical blade (other name :  apron). The scraper can carriage its load to the fill area where the blade is raised, the back panel of the hopper, or the ejector, is hydraulically pushed forward and the load tumbles out. Then the empty scraper returns to the cut site and repeats the cycle.

[10] WHEELED LOADING SHOVELS

Loading shovels are loaded where it counts, pushing the  front end bucket loader efficiency higher. From mini loaders to large production machines, find the right fit for the work in load and carry operations, civil & building  construction, earth moving, waste handling, recycling, landscaping, quarrying, aggregates, block handling, lumber yards, agriculture and more.

A shovel’s work cycle, or digging cycle, consists of four phases:

• digging
• swinging
• dumping
• returning

[11] ROAD HEADER

A road header machine called a boom type road header. Road headers are advanced, self forced and extremely powerful rock cutting machines are designed to excavate roadways, tunnels and compartments continuously without using volatile. Powered electro hydraulically, they produce no fumes and are used extensively in mineral mining, coal mining and underground construction projects, where their capacity to excavate the desired profile without causing damaging vibrations is highly valued for both safety environmental reasons

 

PROCESSING EQUIPMENTS

Processing Construction Equipments are used in construction processes. These Equipments aid the processes involve in some construction works i.e make it faster and simpler. Some of these Equipments are listed below.

[1] CONCRETE  MIXER

Concrete (Cement Mixer) is a machine that combines cement evenly to form aggregates such as sand or gravel and water to concrete. A typical concrete mixer using a rotating drum for mixing the components. For smaller volume works portable concrete mixers are regularly used for concrete, can be produced at the site, so that workers have enough time to use the concrete before it hardens time.

[2] SELF LOADING CONCRETE MIXER

The self Loading concrete pick up the Sand, Aggregate & and Cement by Itself and their is a inbuilt water tank which feed the mixer with Water at it’s appropriate proportions.

The self concrete mixer is very fast and can mix a large quantity of concrete up to 2.5m³ or even more depending on the size of the car mix.

[3] CONCRETE TRUCK TRANSPORTER

Special trucks for transporting concrete produced and ready-mix concrete to the construction site. They can be charged with dry materials and water, with the mixing occurring during transport. With this method, the material was mixed. The concrete truck transportation of liquid mixture maintained material by movement or rotation of the drum to the delivery.

This type of truck are basically useful for those selling concrete.

[4] CONCRETE STATIONARY PUMP

A concrete stationary pump can fit into tight, confined areas of a construction site that a larger boom concrete pump truck, because of its outriggers, just won’t fit.

These trailer concrete pumps have steel and rubber concrete pump hoses that attach to an outlet on the concrete line pump. The concrete pump hose can range in diameter from 2 inches to 5 inches and are usually 10 feet long. The larger diameter hoses 3, 4, and 5 inch are typically used for pumping concrete and the 2 inch pump hose is mostly used for pumping grout and concrete. The concrete pump hoses are connected together with concrete pump clamps reaching horizontal lengths from 20 to 1500 feet. The volume of concrete pumped through a line pump varies depending on the size of the line pump and the diameter of the concrete pump pipe, most can pump 30 cubic yards per hour but some outputs can be as high as 150 cubic yards per hour.

Below is the diagram of a Concrete car mix and a stationary life pump working on a slab.

[5] CONCRETE MOBILE PUMP

A mobile concrete pump consists of both a concrete pump and a placing boom which is mounted on a truck chassis. The booms can vary in size and the advantage of this type of concrete pump is it can be deployed quickly and deliver concrete to any area within the range of the boom.

[6] TRUCK MIXER CONCRETE PUMP

Both mobile and static pumps will source their concrete from large hoppers, but there is ability Truck Mixer Concrete Pump to have the supply of concrete itself and it’s mobile. Mixer trucks exist which also have a concrete pump and boom, allowing for full mobility.

[7] PLATE COMPACTOR

A plate compactor is an indispensable piece of construction equipment that is used to compress different types of soil and gravel. Although each plate compactor is a story for itself, mainly they all consist of a heavy steel plate which is mounted to the base of the machine and bears (resembles push-style mower). Plate Compactor have various designs and attachments, however, the core is a flat and heavy plate which is driven or vibrated up and down with either gasoline or diesel Powered.

Plate compactors find their use in various outdoor projects, like compacting soil before paving. Also, plate compactors are perfect for compacting gravel, loose stone and sand during road or driveway paving. Another feature of plate compactors is that they can make smooth small patches of fresh asphalt or tighten up dirt in a utility trench. Plate compactors increase productivity because they provide most optimal performance. This machine can force the soil to compact, which means it will push out air and eliminate the risk of future settling. Plate compactors are very easy-to-use and they work straightforward. Once the machine is turned on, flat, heavy plate starts to move up and down as quick as the operator wants. Plate compactors make a combination of rapid impacts and plate weight, which force the soil to compact and pack together.

[8] JUMPING JACK COMPACTOR

Jumping jack compactor work great when compacting cohesive soils because of the size of the plate. The smaller plate size allows for more focused and direct compaction, which comes in handy on soils that require more force to properly compact.

Because of their slim upright design, Jumping Jack are also a great for trenches and tight spots where compactors aren’t as easy to maneuver.

Jumping Jack have the ability to compact a deeper amount of soil than a plate compactor, because the force from the plate is more direct. Therefore, more soil can be added to each layer which can make the process of filling and compacting a hole or trench, much faster.

[9] ROAD ROLLER

Road roller (sometimes called a roller-compactor, or just roller) is a compactor type engineering vehicle used to compact soil, gravel, concrete, or asphalt in the construction of roads and foundations, similar rollers are used also at landfills or in agriculture.

[10] ROAD PAVER

A paver (paver finisher, asphalt finisher, paving machine) is an engineering vehicle used to lay asphalt on roadways. It is normally fed by a dump truck. A separate machine, a roller, is then used to press the hot asphalt mix, resulting a smooth, even surface. The sub-base being prepared by use of a grader to trim crushed stone to profile after rolling.

[11] PILE BORING MACHINE

The Pile Boring Machine are basically useful in Cast in Situ Pile Foundation. The machine is basically use for drilling hole for Pile Foundation & it require more care and maintenance since it is use for heavy work.

[12] REBARS CUTTING MACHINE

This machine is basically built for cutting reinforcements steel  bar. It’s basically useful when there are large amount of Reinforcements to be cut and mainly built for cutting large diameter Reinforcement Steel Bars, ranging from 20mm upward. The machine can also be use for lower diameters Rebars.

[13] REBARS BENDING MACHINE

Reinforcement bending machine can bend bar with diameters from 4mm to 60mm into different angles between 0°and 180°. Reinforcement is the meaning of enhancement. It is obvious that reinforcement bars are usually used to straighten the building structures. In construction and masonry industries, reinforcement bar bending machines are necessary. Because they can be used to reinforce the concrete structures to make architectures more safe.

 

MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENTS

Below are equipments for handing Materials on Construction Site.

[1] CRANE

A crane is a type of machine commonly used in construction, generally equipped with an elevator, ropes or chains and sheaves that can be used both to move and to lift and lower materials horizontally. It is mainly used for heavy lifting and transport to other locations.
One or more simple machines are used to provide a mechanical benefit and thus to move loads on the normal ability of a person.
Cranes are commonly employed in the transport industry for the loading and unloading of goods for the movement of materials and manufacturing industries for mounting agricultural machinery, in the construction industry.

[2] CONVEYOR

Conveyors are mainly useful in applications involving the transportation of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow quick and efficient transportation for a wide variety of materials, which make them very popular in the material handling and packaging industries.

[3] HOIST

Hoist  is a device for raising or lowering a load by means of a drum or wheel lift to which wraps the rope or chain. It can be operated by hand, is driven electrically or pneumatically, and the chain or wire rope fibers are used as lifting device.

[4] FORKLIFT

A forklift truck (lift truck,  fork truck, forklift, tow-motor) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and transport materials. Forklift trucks are available in many variations and load capacities. In a typical warehouse setting most forklifts used have load capacities between one to five tons. Larger machines, up to 50 tons lift capacity are used for lifting heavier loads.

 

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