TASK:

1) Explain the heavy machineries used in construction project.

2) State the type of machine, function and components of the machine

3) Include the picture of the machine as well.

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i. Earthwork (5 machines)

ii. Other activities (5 machines)

iii. Small powered plant (5 items)

Heavy machineries

Heavy machinery or heavy equipment refers to heavy-duty vehicles, specially designed for

executing construction tasks, most frequently ones involving earthwork operations. They are

also known as heavy machines, heavy trucks, construction equipment, engineering

equipment, heavy vehicles, or heavy hydraulics.

EARTHWORK

Earthworks are engineering works created through the moving or processing of parts

of the earth's surface involving quantities of soil or unformed rock. The earth may be

moved to another location and formed into a desired shape for a purpose. Much of

earthworks involve machine excavation and fill or backfill.

Type of machine:

a) Wheel loader

b) grader

c) bulldozer

d) backhoe

e) Excavator

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a) Wheel loader

A loader is a heavy equipment machine often used in construction, primarily used to

Load material (such as asphalt, demolition debris, dirt, snow, feed, gravel, logs, raw

materials, recycle material, rock, sand, and woodchips) into or onto another type of

machinery (such as dump truck, conveyor belt, feed-hopper, or railcar).

Functions of wheel loader:

1. Levelling is done by spreading soil during reversing of machine.

2. Digging of soil

3. Dumping loaded bucket

4. Loading dump truck

5. Hauling material

Components of wheel loader:

b) Grader CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING Page 3

A grader, also commonly referred to as a road grader or a motor grader, is

a construction machine with a long blade used to create a flat surface during

the grading process. Typical models have three axles, with the engine and cab situated

above 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.

Type of grader:

I. Road grader

II. Motor grader

Functions of grader:

o Moving of earth from one location to another.

o Leveling of soil so that next bitumen layer spread uniformly throughout the surface.

o Scarifying. Scarifying is the removal of complete layer of soil and then spreading of a

new layer at that particular location.

o Mixing of two materials.

o Spreading of soil, aggregates

o Trenching

o Land grading. It is the process in which a certain slope is achieved with the help of

motor grader.

o Ditching

o And for cutting of bank canals.

o Motor grader is also used as snow removing machine. Because of speed and normal

wheel instead of crawler wheel. This makes motor grader as most suitable machine

for this type of operations in areas where snow rate is above the normal conditions.

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Components of grader:

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c) Bulldozer

A bulldozer is a crawler (continuous tracked tractor) equipped with a substantial metal

plate (known as a blade) used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, or other such

material during construction or conversion work and typically equipped at the rear with a

claw-like device (known as a ripper) to loosen densely compacted materials. Bulldozers

can be found on a wide range of sites, mines and quarries, military bases, heavy

industry factories, engineering projects and farms.

Functions of bulldozer:

o Bulldozers are very powerful tracked vehicles. In construction sites, the tracks in

bulldozers give them great ground mobility and they can hold through very rough surface

or terrain. These tracks help to distribute the weight over large areas, and hence prevent

the dozer from sinking into muddy or sandy ground.

o They are designed in such a way that they have high torque capacity, which give them

immense power to drag objects. Besides pushing heavy objects, these heavy machines

can also remove things from the ground.

In construction sites, bull dozers are used to clear shrubbery, obstacles, and remains of

buildings and structures.

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Components of bulldozer:

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d) Backhoe

A backhoe, also called a rear actor or back actor, is a piece 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 latter forming a 'backhoe loader' (colloquially known as a JCB in Ireland and

UK). The section of the arm closest 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

generally attached to the vehicle through a pivot known as the king-post, which

allows the arm to slew left and right, usually through a total of around 180–200

degrees.

Functions of backhoe:

o can be used for many tasks, which include construction, light transportation of

materials, powering building equipment, digging holes and excavating, breaking

asphalt, and even paving roads.

o There are some loader buckets that offer a retractable bottom, which enable it to

empty the load more quickly and efficiently.

o The retractable bottom loader buckets are often times used for grading and scratching

off sand. The front assembly on a backhoe may be either removable or permanently

attached. Often times, the bucket can be replaced with other tools or devices. 

o The coupler consists of two hydraulic cylinders on the end of the arm assembly,

which can expand and retract to allow different tools to be attached to the unit.

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Components of backhoe:

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e) Excavator

Excavators (Hydraulic Excavators) are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom,

dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house".The house sits

atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression from the steam

shovels and often mistakenly called power shovels. All movement and functions of a

hydraulic excavator are accomplished through the use of hydraulic fluid, with hydraulic

cylinders and hydraulic motors. Due to the linear actuation of hydraulic cylinders, their mode

of operation is fundamentally different from cable-operated excavators which uses winches

and steel ropes to accomplish the movements.

Functions of excavator:

Digging of trenches, holes, foundations

Material handling

Brush cutting with hydraulic attachments

Forestry work

Forestry mulching

Demolition

General grading/landscaping

Mining, especially, but not only open-pit mining

River dredging

Driving piles, in conjunction with a pile driver

Drilling shafts for footings and rock blasting, by use of an auger or hydraulic drill

attachment.

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Components of excavator:

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OTHER ACTIVITIES

a) Forklifts

- A forklift truck (also called a lift truck, a fork truck, a forklift, or a tow-

motor) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and transport materials.

- Forklift trucks are available in many variation 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.

Function of forklift:

Some allow the operator to sit while driving and operating the machine; others require

the operator to stand. Some are powered by on-board batteries; others use different

kinds of fuel.

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Components of forklift:

b) Road roller

- A 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.

- In some parts of the world, road rollers are still known colloquially as steam

rollers, regardless of their method of propulsion. This typically only applies to

the largest examples (used for road-making).

Type of roller:

1. Vibratory Roller

2. Tamping roller/ sheep foot roller

3. Smooth wheel rollers

4. Pneumatic tired roller

Type Functions Components/ parts

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Vibratory

Roller

Vibration is to reduce the air voids

and to cause densification of granular

soils. During vibration of soil layer, 

rearrangement of particles occurs due

to deformation of the granular soil

because of oscillation of the roller in

a cycle

Tamping

roller/ sheep

foot roller

tamping roller better suited

for clay soils. Contact

pressure of sheep foot roller

varies from 1200- 7000Kpa.

 It is best dedicated for fine

grained soils

Smooth

wheel rollers

Smooth wheel roller has no vibrator

attached with the drum. This makes

smooth wheel roller best suited for

rolling of weaker aggregates, proof

rolling of subgrades and in

compacting asphalt pavements.

Compaction of clay or sand is not a

good choice to done with smooth

wheel roller. This is so, because

there are many empty voids in clay

soil and sand, which cannot be

minimized without vibrators.

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Pneumatic

tired roller

Pneumatic tired roller can be

used for highways,

construction of dams and for

both fine grained and non-

cohesive soils.

It is also used for

smoothening of finishing

bitumen layer on highways,

roads, streets etc.

c) Concrete mixers

A concrete mixer (often mistakenly called a cement mixer) is a device that

homogeneously combines cement, aggregate such as sand or gravel, and water to

form concrete. A typical concrete mixer uses a revolving drum to mix the

components. For smaller volume works portable concrete mixers are often used so

that the concrete can be made at the construction site, giving the workers ample time

to use the concrete before it hardens. An alternative to a machine is mixing concrete

by hand. This is usually done in a wheelbarrow; however, several companies have

recently begun to sell modified tarps for this purpose.

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Types of mixer:

i. Pan type mixer – suitable for stiff and lean mixes, which present difficulties with most

other type of mixers, mainly due to sticking of mortar in the drum.

ii.

Drum

mixer

Type Characteristic Parts / components

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Non-tilting

mixer

Fixed blades work the concrete

towards the discharge end of the

mixer, in order to provide a rapid

rate of discharge.

Tilting drum

mixer

Suitable with large sized aggregate

and for low workability concrete.

Internal blades lift and tumble the

ingredients onto itself

Reversing

mixer

Suitable with dry concrete mixes.

Provide efficient mixing with very

little build up with the mixer.

Functions of concrete mixers:

To transport and mix concrete up to construction site. They can be charge with

dry materials and water, with the mixing occurring during transport. With the process,

the material has already been mixing. The concrete mixing transport truck maintains

the material’s liquid state through agitation, or turning of the drum, until delivery.

d) Dumpers

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- A dumper is a vehicle designed for carrying bulk material, often on building

sites. Dumpers are distinguished from dump trucks by configuration: a dumper

is usually an open 4-wheeled vehicle with the load skip in front of the driver,

while a dump truck has its cab in front of the load.

- The skip can tip to dump the load; this is where the name "dumper" comes

from. They are normally diesel powered. A towing eye is fitted for secondary

use as a site tractor. 

Types of dumpers:

i. Nu-Star power Pusher E-750 electric Wheelbarrow

ii. Wacker TA6 Site Dumper

iii. Wacker Neuson 1501 Site Dumper

iv. MZ imer Site Dumper

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v. Wacker Neuson

Function /uses of dump trucks:

Dump trucks or production trucks are those that are used for transporting loose

material such as sand, dirt, and gravel for construction.

e) Cranes

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A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire

ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to

move them horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy things and transporting

them to other places. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical

advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of a human. Cranes are

commonly employed in the transport industry for the loading and unloading of

freight, in the construction industry for the movement of materials and in the

manufacturing industry for the assembling of heavy equipment.

Types of crane:

i. Mobile

ii. Tower

iii. Overhead

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Functions of crane:

used for lifting heavy things and transporting them to other places.

Meter can display a variety of pre-set working parameters.(overload, fully loaded)

SMALL POWERED PLANT

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Type of Small powered plant:

a) Vibrators

b) Pumps

c) Power trowel

d) Shotcrete

e) Grinding machines

a) Vibrators

A vibration is a mechanism of any mechanical device which provide to-and-fro motion

in any direction. A vibrator is a mechanical device to generate vibrations. The vibration

is often generated by an electric motor with an unbalanced mass on its driveshaft.

Type of vibrators:

i. Poker vibrator

ii. Vibrating table

Type Function Components / picture

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Poker

vibrator

They essentially consist of a

power unit and a long flexible

tube at the end of which a

vibrating head is attached.

Power is provided by electric

motor, compressed air or petrol

engine. The long tube houses a

flexible shaft which rotates an

eccentric weight inside the

vibrating head. The frequency

of the vibrator is about 700

cycles per minute.

The vibrating head is inserted

in the concrete. They are most

effective as the vibrating head

comes into intimate contact

with concrete.

Vibrating

table

used for compacting stiff and

harsh mixes used in precast

structural members in factories

and laboratory specimens.

b) Pumps

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Types Function Components/ parts

Centrifugal Pump

(Common uses include

water, sewage, petroleum

and petrochemical

pumping;a centrifugal   fan  

is commonly used to

implement

a vacuum   cleaner . The

reverse function of the

centrifugal pump is

a water turbine converting

potential energy of water

pressure into mechanical

rotational energy.)

to transport fluids

by the conversion

of rotational

kinetic energy to

the hydrodynamic

energy of the

fluid flow.

use a piping

system to move

liquids as the

fluid enters the

pump impeller

along the rotating

axis and is

accelerated

rapidly by the

impeller.

Submersible Pump

(a device which has

a hermetically

sealed motor close-

coupled to the pump body.

The whole assembly is

submerged in the fluid to

be pumped.)

wholly

submerged in the

fluid to be

pumped whereas

a centrifugal

pump uses a

rotating impeller

to increase

pressure of a

fluid.

c) Power trowel

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A power trowel (also known as a "power float", "helicopter" or "trowel machine" or

"whirlybird") is a piece of light construction equipment used

by construction companies and contractors, to apply a smooth finish to concrete slabs.

Functions of Power trowel:

- Power trowel use for final finishing of concrete floor, by gives by far the best results

for strength, durability and flatness.

- Power trowel is designed to put a hard skin onto the surface of the concrete which is

smooth and reasonably dust free.

Components of Power trowel:

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d) Shotcrete

Shotcrete is concrete (or sometimes mortar) conveyed through a hose

and pneumatically projected at high velocity onto a surface, as a construction

technique. It is reinforced by conventional steel rods, steel mesh, and/or fibers.

Fiber reinforcement (steel or synthetic) is also used for stabilization in

applications such as slopes or tunneling.

Shotcrete is usually an all-inclusive term for both the wet-mix and dry-mix

versions. In pool construction, however, the term "shotcrete" refers to wet-mix

and "gunite" to dry-mix. In this context, these terms are not interchangeable

Types of shotcrete:

- Dry Mix (PZ-3)

- Pzs3000 Wet & Dry Mix Rotor

Functions of Shotcrete:

- To provide surface protection.

-  Development of decline pathway to go underground is critical for movement of

heavy machinery, miners, and material. Shotcrete helps make these paths safe from

any ground fall.

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e) Grinding machines

- A grinding machine, often shortened to grinder, is any of various power

tools or machine tools used for grinding, which is a type of machining using

an abrasive wheel as the cutting tool. Each grain of abrasive on the wheel's surface

cuts a small chip from the workpiece via shear deformation.

- Grinding is used to finish workpieces that must show high surface quality (e.g.,

low surface roughness) and high accuracy of shape and dimension. As the accuracy in

dimensions in grinding is on the order of 0.000025 mm, in most applications it tends

to be a finishing operation and removes comparatively little metal, about 0.25 to

0.50 mm depth. However, there are some roughing applications in which grinding

removes high volumes of metal quite rapidly. Thus, grinding is a diverse field.

Types of grinding machines:

i. Belt grinder

ii. Bench grinder

iii. Cylindrical grinder

iv. Surface grinder

Functions of grinding machines:

I. used to precisely shape and finish the given materials with low surface roughness and

high surface quality.

II.  It is primarily a finishing operation that removes relatively small quantities of metal,

to deliver highly accurate products.

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Components of grinding machines:

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References:

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworks_(engineering) 2) http://www.slideshare.net/hamo92/5-construction-equipment-building-construction 3) https://www.google.com/search?

q=components+of+loader&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=662&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw5N_lvrbPAhVQtJQKHc7cDEAQ_AUIBigB&dpr=1#imgrc=1KRst_Rg2hKXYM%3A

4) http://www.engineeringintro.com/all-about-construction-equipments/wheel-loader- loadingunloading-mechanism-functions-loading-patterns/

5) http://www.theconstructionmachinery.com/articles/functions-of-bulldozers.html 6) http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Great-Help-of-the-Functions-of-Road-

Grader&id=40363647) http://www.engineeringintro.com/all-about-construction-equipments/motor-grader-

classification-uses-of-motor-grader/8) http://www.engineeringcivil.com/backhoe-loader-construction-equipment.html 9) http://www.engineeringintro.com/all-about-construction-equipments/dragline-

excavator/10) http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Construction_plant 11) file:///C:/Users/0wner/Downloads/Concrete%20Construction%20Article%20PDF-

%20Power%20Floating%20and%20Troweling.pdf12) https://www.andrews-sykes.com/pump-hire/environment/construction/ 13) http://civilblog.org/2016/01/08/6-types-of-rollers-commonly-used-for-compaction-

work/#14) http://www.bellegroup.com/de/support/trowelHints.html 15) http://machinetools.bhavyamachinetools.com/types-and-uses-of-a-grinding-machine/

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