ASSIGNMENT

NICMAR / SODE OFFICE

NAME

Ajay

REG. No.

214-08-11-12287-2161

Course No.

PGCM 13

Course Title

Materials and Equipment Management

Assignment No.

Date of Dispatch

Last date of receipt

Of Assignment at SODE office

ASSIGNMENT
ON

Materials and Equipment Management

PGCM 13

SUBMITTED BY:

Ajay,
PGCM,
REG NO: 214-08-11-12287-2161

ASSIGNMENT:
Your company has been awarded a contract of developing and construction a new
International air port 30 KM from a city. You have been appointed as Planning
Engineer (Materials and Equipment). Project is to be implemented in phases. In
phase I, one strip of landing 100 m width is to be constructed in 100 days. The
scope of work is as follows: Cutting and Dozing of 100,000cum of earth. Average height 0.75m.
Transportation of 20,000 cum if surplus earth from site to dumping
place 3k.m. away from site (including spreading.) Filling of 80,000
kms in landing strip.
Bringing in 3000 cum of sand from 20k.m. (including spreading and
leaving at site.)
Procurement of 1, 50,000 liters of Bitumen. Duration of work 30
days from 60th day of starting of work. Bitumen to be obtained from
refinery at Bongaigaon in Assam. Lead time up to site is 45 days.
Storage facility available at site 50,000 liters tank.
Estimate total cost of work and your plan of:
i. Equipment Planning Procurement & Deployment.
ii. Ordering and replenishing of Bitumen.
Scope of work:
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100m width of Road construction for international airport 30 km away

from city Cutting and dozing of 100,000 cum of earth. Average height
0.75m
Transportation of 20,000 cum of surplus earth from site to
dumping place 3 km away from site. Filling of 80,000 cum in
landing strip.
Bringing of 3000 cum of sand from 20 km including spreading and
leveling at site.
Procurement of 150,000 liters of bitumen from refinery at
Bongaigon in Assam.
Description of Equipments:
Hauling equipments Tractor: Tractors have many uses
as construction equipment. Use of this, primarily may be to pull or
push goods, they are also used as mounts for many types
of accessories such as front end shovel, rippers, bulldozers, side
brooms, hoes, trenches and others. There are sizes and types to fit
almost any job for which they are usable. Tractors may be divided
into 2 major types crawlers and wheels.
Dumpers Dumper is a heavy duty truck with a strongly built
body which is hinged at back and is fitted with a hydraulic ram on
the underside to lift the front of the body and tilt it backward into
the dumping position. A tailgate may be fitted at the rear of the
body or the body may have a chute like shape in the rear with
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inside corner rounded and sides tapered to facilitate dumping

which is most popular now-a-days. Useful life of dumpers is
generally 8-12 years i.e. 10,000 15,000 hours depending upon
their capacity. The life is also expressed in terms of kilometers i.e.
200.000 kms.
Earth moving machines These equipments are used to cut the earth
or trees, rocks and then move them to a distance required.
Equipments like bulldozers are also used for leveling off the
ground, cleaning land of timber, stumps, spreading earth fill etc.
These equipments are very common of all the earth moving
machines, a bulldozer is most useful and most the project sites
require its use in one form or the other.
Bulldozers Bulldozers are basically a pushing unit consisting of a
tractor either crawler mounted or wheeled to which a cutting blade
is mounted at the direction perpendicular to the direction of travel.
There is no difference between a bulldozer and anglodozer except
that the cutting blade is set at an angle with the direction of
travel. The size of the bulldozer is indicated by the length and
height of the blade, its shape and capacity. The size of blade varies
from 1.7mX 70 cm. (height) X0.7m3 (capacity of blade) to
3.38mX1.14mX3.7m3.Working of dozer consists of lowering front
blade to the ground. The moment dozer drives, it cuts and pushes
earth collected in blade to a desirable distance.

Compaction Equipment:

Tandem Roller - There is also a smooth wheeled roller with to roller

wheels of approximately the same width- one at the front and other
at the rear. Compaction with this type is better. This roller is better
for rolling finishing surfaces as it produces smooth and even
surface.
Bitumen Plant:
Bitumen Boiler - This is used for heating bitumen from drums.
Boiler is fitted with a fire box, fuel tube and chimney. Full asphalt
drums are lifted to the top where the contents are emptied and
heated by flame or combustion gasses. The boiler is mounted on
the wheels and can be towed from one location to the other.
Bitumen Spraying Equipment : Bitumen boiler is fitted with the pump
with strainer in the suction pipe. The pump is operated either by
hand or mechanically. On the delivery side there are flexible pipe
spray bars and spray nozzle. The rate of application of bitumen can
vary by adjusting the height of the spraying nozzle above the
ground. Uniformity of spraying is control by the angle at which the
spray bar is kept.
Bitumen Tanker : When bulk bitumen is to be transported, tanker
is used. It is mounted on a truck or a trailer. Capacity of the tanker
may range from 5000 to 15000 liters. Oil fire burners are used to
maintain the temperature of bitumen during transit.
Bitumen Pressure Distributor: This equipment is used when a
specified quantity of hot bitumen is to be sprayed uniformly for
grouting or surface dressing. It is used with bulk bitumen supply.
Estimating and requirement of the equipment:
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Equipment on roadwork (or on any work) has either to be purchased,

obtained on hire or transferred from some other project. In either of the
cases a fairly accurate estimate of the requirement of equipment has to
be done so as to ensure that expenditure on equipment is not wasted.
This needs planning well an advance.
Factors to be considered are:
1. What is most desirable sequence of operations involved
in the work?
2. Which are the operations are to be performed by the
machinery?
3. In case some or all equipment is to be transferred from other
projects how the program of both projects to be arranged so that
there is no undue to and from movement of the equipment and at
the same time the work is completed in optimum time.
Data Required:
1. Quantities of items of work: Road project is sub divided in operations like
A. Earthwork.
B. Aggregate production.
C. Transporting Aggregate to road.
D. Compaction.
E. Wearing surface Concrete / Bituminous surface etc. Quantities of
items are worked out.
2. Period of completion of project. Normally road work has to be
completed in a stipulated period particularly when the work is to
be completed on contract. In such cases the duration of the
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constituent operation has to be adjusted taking in to consideration

the activity interrelation and overall period of completion. While
fixing of activity duration due allowance must be made for bad
weather, monsoon, and loss of time due to shifting of equipment,
break down, repairs and maintenance of equipment.
3. Normally no work is possible for 3 to 4 months in a year due to
monsoon. Further considering weekly holidays normally 25 days
could be considered to be available for working. Though a working
day is considered to comprise 8 hours, a part is spent in inevitable
operations like shifting, waiting etc. thus in about 200 days
available, working hours could be about 1200-1500.
4. From above a fair estimate of requirement of equipment can be
done. Over the above this suitable provision ( to the extent of 10%)
is done as stand by to take care of break down or unforeseen
circumstances.

Determine the output of a bulldozer from the following operating

conditions:
Material: Sand
Swell = 20%
Haul Distance = 40m
Rated mold board capacity = 3 cubic meter (loose volume)
Operating factor 45 minutes/ hour
Solution:
Probable round trip time
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Pushing 40m @ 2.5 kmph

= 0.96 minute

Returning 40m @ 5 kmph

= 0.48 minute

Loading shifting gear

= 0.30 minute
1.74 minutes

Time per Trip

= 1.74 minutes

Trip per hour

= 34.5 Trips

Net Mold Board Capacity

= 3/1.2 = 2.5

Output per Hour

= 86.25 m3

Output per day

= 86.25 * 8 (hours)
= 690 m3

Cutting and dozing of 100,000

of earth

= 100,000/690
= 145 days

Equipment operating cost:

The cost of operating the equipment includes fuel costs, routine
maintenance costs, major repair cost, operators cost, tyre replacement
cost, and overhead costs.
Fuel costs:
Cost of fuel consumed in one hour = cost per litre X hourly fuel consumption
Hourly fuel consumption = Hourly fuel consumption at full load operating factor.

The fuel price litre, delivered at the site is obtained from local suppliers
at it varies from place to place. The rate of consumption depends upon
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the type of engine (diesel or petrol), the state of the engine and the
working conditions.
Diesel engine fuel consumption per hour = 0.15 liters X rated HP X load factor.
Petrol engine fuel consumption per hour = 0.22 liters X rated HP X load factor.

For example: The hourly fuel consumption of a crawler tractor rated with
250 HP, operating under average conditions (load factor 70 %) and
diesel costing Rs. 35 per litre., can be worked out as under:
Diesel consumption per hour = 0.15 * Rated flywheel Hp * load factor
= 0.15 * 250 * 0.7 liters
= 26.25 liters
Cost of hourly consumption = Diesel consumption * rate of diesel per litre
= 26.25 liters * Rs 60 (current rate)

= Rs. 1575
Routine maintenance costs:
Maintenance costs include the cost of lubricating oil, grease,
filter batteries, minor repairs, and the labour involved in performing
maintenance. The maintenance cost including service, labour cost and
minor repairs vary with the type of equipment involved and the project
environment, and these can be approximately calculated as proportion of
hourly fuel cost as follows.
Operating conditions
Favourable
Average
Unfavourable

Hourly maintenance cost

1/4 Fuel cost
1/3 Fuel cost
1/2 Fuel cost

Major Repair Cost: Repair cost = Depreciation cost * Repair cost

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Repair cost during nth year = n * Value to be depreciated / Digit sum of equipment life in years

For example: If the total value of depreciation of a wheel equipment

(repair factor = 0.75) works out as Rs. 375,000 and its life is 5 years,
than the repair cost during each year of operation(working 1500 hours
per year) can be estimated as under:
Total repair cost = Total depreciation * Repair factor
= 375000 * 0.75
= Rs. 281250
Tyre cost for wheel equipment:
The tyre manufactures provide indication of tyre life but these should be
taken as guidelines.
Hourly tyre replacement cost = 115 * tyre price * no. of tyres / Tyre life in hours

Example: If the four tyres of equipment each costing Rs. 2500, are
replaced after 800 hours and the tyre can be recapped locally, then the
hourly tyre cost calculated as follows:
= 115 * 4 * Rs. 2500 * 0.8 / 800
= Rs. 115/hr.
Manpower cost: Equipment requires operators, drivers and helpers for its
operations. The number of persons working on equipment varies with
type of equipment. A dumper may have only one driver-cum-operator
whereas a bulldozer will need one operator and a helper. Depending
upon the persons require per machine, the prevalent wage rates and the
facilities provided by the company, the hourly manpower costs can be
calculated.
Selection of Construction Equipment: Proper selection of equipment
increases the speed of construction and makes project most economical.
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Some general consideration may be made for selections of construction

equipment are:
As far as possible only equipment available with ease should be
selected. Unless and until it is ascertained that new equipment will
earn more than its cost or cab used in future also it should not be
purchased. Economics should be worked out.
Choice should be restricted to standard equipment; special
equipment should be selected if job satisfies its selection.
Topography conditions, type of soil existing approaches and road
working conditions etc. must be studied.
Less variety of equipments should be used; more variety means
more skilled workers, more spare parts requirements and more
production cost.
It is better to purchase equipment manufactured in our own
country. This will decrease the cost of repairs and down-time cost.
It will be beneficial to the nation also. As far as possible equipment
of same make should be purchased.
Size of equipment should be made according to the amount of
work. It is better to use more than one equipment of small size than
using of one of large size.
Obsolescence of the equipment should not be overlooked.
Equipment should be capable of doing more than one job, but is
should not be versatile.
The technical and economic aspects should be analyzed to select
the equipment.

Following aspects need detailed consideration at the selection stage:

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1. Suitability for the job with specific reference to climatic and other
operating conditions.
2. Size of the equipment.
3. Standardization and variety reduction.
4. Type of prime mover.
5. Degree of utilization.
6. Suitability of local condition.
7. Adaptability
8. Technical considerations.
The choice of size of the equipment is indicated as either a minimum
number of large size machines or several units of medium/small size
machines.
Technical consideration for selection should include the following
points.
1. Strength
2. Vibration stability
3. Resistance to wear
4. Heat resistance
5. Reliability
6. Maintainability
Equipment can be classified as:
1. Standard equipment.
2. Special equipment.
It depends on extent of its use, availability and cost. One equipment
standard for one may be special to other, for example a concrete mixer
of specific capacity is a standard equipment for all most all the contactor
whether class A or class D but cranes or concrete mixer of very large
capacity are special to one whilst standard for other. One definition for
standard equipment is that which is easily available in the market. It is
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easy to repair; spare parts are easily available and can be disposed off
easily. Whilst special equipment manufactured on order and cannot be
disposed of easily and cannot be repaired by all. In general special
equipment can be defined as equipment manufactured for a single
construction project or for a specific job.
Material Management: The management of materials in project is
different from that in an ongoing situation.
Most of the materials in projects are bulky and heavy.
The lead time for procurement of materials in most cases is usually
much more.
The principle of EOQ has very limited applicability in project situations.
Usually sequential arrival of material is desired.
The demand of material in project is by and large highly deterministic.
Sufficient care has be taken in the selection of vendors has significant
impact on the project performance.
The demand of materials in a project situation is highly deterministic.
The gross requirement of various materials is worked out during the
detailed project report stage. The primary concern in material planning
for project is that the cost of not meeting a demand is very high. As it
may lead to delay in proper completion. Hence the right time is the key
word in material planning for projects. The capital requirements are to
be planned in such a way that these are available at the site just before
the erection/ installation of these. The demand of construction is known
as soon as the resource requirement for the project is finalized. These
materials are normally required before the construction can start and are
to be planned for availability prior to the construction phase of
the project. The consumables are used throughout the project duration
and the total requirements are known. However the consumption rate at
different period is different but deterministic. As the total number of
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consumable materials may run in to hundreds, the analysis of aggregate

demand pattern may be restricted to high consumption value materials
only.
Procurement is of special significance in a project situation. The net
effect of delay in delivery and supply of inferior quality of material is
delay in the completion of the project. Economic procurement is also
very important as it is determinant for the viability of the project.
Because of these considerations vendor selection plays an important
role.
The consumables are standard materials and are usually available from
many sources. Occasionally there is a scarcity of some of these
materials. The gross demands as well as the demand profile of these
materials for the entire project duration are known, and it is desirable to
enter into contracts with the suppliers.
Apart from this discussion on the technical details and price the
negotiation can centre on the following issues:
Ordering Schedule: To match with the project network. The suppliers
network for manufacture can also be discussed.
Payment terms
Liquidated damages
Quality specifications and procedures for checking quality
Inspection at different stages of manufacture at the suppliers
premises.
Incorporation of design changes while the manufacturing is in
progress.
Performance guarantee etc.
The inventory replenishment model shows the number of cycles of
replenishment during the usage period. The initial inventory of
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materials at the start of the work consists of working stock (Q) and
safety stock (S)
Economic order Quantity: Two important decision to be take while
repetitive materials inventory are how much to order at one time and
when to order this quantity, or in other words, to decide their order the
quantity level and the reorder time cycle so as to effect economy in cost
of purchasing and holding inventory. This economic order quantity
(EOQ) and the numbers of orders are determined mathematically as
under:
Inventory cost
C = Ordering cost + Inventory carrying cost
C = Co. N + Ci. A/2N
For cost to be minimum:
dC/dN = Co Ci. A / 2. N2 = 0
N2 = Ci. A / 2. Co
And

C = CoN + Ci A/2N
= 1/2N (2Con2 + Ci A) = 2Ci A/2N

Therefore
Least Inventory cost = square root of 2CoCiA

Safety Stock: It is the floating stock held to cater for changes in rate of
consumption, delays in delivery of materials from the agreed dates and
under unforeseen causes, so as to prevent stock-outs resulting in
production hold-ups.
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The safety stock for a given situation can be determined using statistical
techniques. Generally, a minimum safety stock can be taken as equal to
consumption quantity in lead time period.
Lead Time: It is defined as the total time required for replenishment of
an item of material from the time and indent is submitted to the
purchased department, to the time that ready for use materials are
received at the project stock-yard for storage or delivered at the site of
work.
Reorder level: It is the level at which the stock is ordered. This is
determined by adding assessed consumption during the lead time period
to the minimum stock level.

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Recommendations / Conclusions:
As can be seen the management of materials in a project is very
much different that in an on-going organization. It calls for
decisions which are very much related to the specific project
situation and improper attention to this function in projects may
lead to undesirable cost and time overrun.
As bitumen is brought from long distance and the lead time is
more, it is better to post a material expeditor and loading point for
better follow up and ensuring timely delivery at site.

Bibliography:
NICMAR lesson book Construction Equipment Management and
Construction Material Management
Construction Planning Equipment and Methods Tata McGraw
Hill
Other miscellaneous hand books on Construction Equipment and
Materials.

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