MAJOR CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT

USED IN

ROAD CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Satya Narayan Shah

B.Sc. Engg (Mech), M.Sc. (M.Engg &Management)
August, 2006
 Satya Narayan Shah
B.Sc. Engg (Mech), M.Sc. (M.Engg &Management)

MAJOR CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT USED IN ROAD

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

1. Air Compressor
2. Rock Drill/ Jack Hammer/ Steel Drill/ Wood Drill
3. Concrete Breaker
4. Asphalt Cutter
5. Rock Splitter
PNEUMATIC TOOLS 6. Compactor
7. Impact Wrenches/ Nail Driver
8. Grinder
9. Concrete Vibrator
10. Backfill Tamper
11. Circular Saw/ Chain Saw
12. Road Broom

A. Rock Crushers
1. Jaw Crushers, Double Roll Crusher, Cone Crusher, Hammer Mill
2. Screens
3. Conveyors
B. Asphalt Plant
1. Central Mix Plant (Batch Plant/ Continuous Mix Plant)
2. Hot Oil Heater
3. Asphalt Melter
4. Bitumen Distributor (Trailer Mounted/ Self propelled)
ROCK CRUSHERS, ASPHALT 5. Asphalt kettle/ Bitumen Heater
AND 6. Portable Mix Plant
CONCRETE EQUIPMENT
7. Pavers
8. Rotary Sweeper
9. Aggregate Spreader
C. Concrete Plant
1.CONSTRUCTION
Aggregate Batching Plant EQUIPMENT
2. Concrete Mixers
3. Concrete Pavers
4. Concrete Vibrator
5. Concrete Saw
6. Portable Concrete Curing Machine

EARTH MOVING AND COMPACTION
A. Earth Moving
1. Dozers (Track/ Wheel)
2. Loader / Shovel (Track / Wheel)
3. Excavator/ Backhoe (Track/ wheel)
4. Scrapers
5. Grader
6. Hauler (Off-highway haulers, Tipper Truck, Mini Dumper)
B. Compaction Equipment
1. Sheep foot Roller, Tamping Roller
2. Steel Wheel Vibratory Roller
3. Steel Wheel Static Roller
4. Pneumatic Roller
5. Plate compactor/ Rammer

1. Water Distributor
2. Rotary Tiller Mixer
3. Portable Electric generator
4. Welding generator
5. Crane
ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT 6. Pile Driver

7. Water Pump
8. Boring Rig
9. Fork Lift
10. Trucks Flat Bed
11. Low Bed Transporter

1
 Satya Narayan Shah
B.Sc. Engg (Mech), M.Sc. (M.Engg &Management)

CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT

Air Compressors & Pneumatic Tools:

Air Compressor:
An air compressor is a machine for compressing air from initial intake pressure to a
higher exhaust pressure through reduction in volume. It provides air energy to drive
pneumatic tools and other pneumatic equipment to perform specific jobs. It consists of a
driving power unit, a compressor and an air reservoirs and accessories. The driving power
unit is generally a diesel engine but sometimes gasoline engine or electrical motors are
also used to drive the compressor. The air compressor may be reciprocating, rotary or
screw type. Major point of consideration to select an air compressor is the volume of air
production per minute at a specific pressure. Commonly, Air compressors available for
the road maintenance and construction purposes are ranging from 125 cfm to 6oo cfm at
80 to 125 psi. The number of pneumatic tools to be used gives the proper size of the air
compressor. The requirement of air for the most common pneumatic tools is given as
below.

Pneumatic Tools:
Advantages of pneumatic tools
a. They are easier to maintain
b. Ease of operation
c. Durability
d. Working ability in various climatic conditions
e. Safer in use
f. Not damaged if they are overloaded
Selection of Pneumatic Tools
Pneumatic Tools Air Pressure Functions
Quantity in in psi
cfm
Paving Breaker 60-80 80-90 Demolish concrete, brick, asphalt,
macadam, ice, column, piers, and
foundations etc.
Nail Driver 30-40 90 Drive nails riveting, drive spikes and
cutting off the head of rivets.
Circular saw 70-80 80-100 Cut wood, brick, stone, concrete, tile,
asbestos cement sheets, steel, cast iron,
etc
Chain Saw 90 80-100 Cut hard wood logs, tree branches
Sump Pump 100 80-90 De-watering
Backfill Tamper 24-27 80-90 Compact earth in confined areas that are
not accessible to other types of
compactors
Concrete vibrator 20-50 85-90 Compact concrete while casting
Portable Grinder 45 90 Grind metal, brushing materials etc.
Steel Drill 27 90-100 Drill holes
80-100 Drill holes into rocks for blasting, rock
Rock drill (Jack Hammer) 15-25 bolting or other purposes

2
 Satya Narayan Shah
B.Sc. Engg (Mech), M.Sc. (M.Engg &Management)

Pneumatic Tools Air Pressure Functions

Quantity in in psi
cfm
0’- 2’ hole 30-50
2’-8’ hole 55-75
8’-12’ hole 80-100
12’-16’ hole 90-110
16’- 14’ hole 150-175
8’-24’ hole
Drifter Drill (wagon 150-275 105 Drill holes into rocks on almost any
Mounted) slope,

Different pneumatic tools have been shown in the attached sheets. The functions of these
tools can be understood from the above table.

ASPHALT AND CONCRETE EQUIPMENT

ASPHALT EQUIPMENT
1. Central Mix Plants:
A central mix plant is an assembly of specialized equipment, which produces paving
mixtures of aggregate and bituminous material. It is erected and remains, at its selected
site till the job is done. They are commonly available in 100 to 150 ton-per-hour (TPH)
plants and 80 to 120 TPH plants. There are following classes of Asphalt plants as per the
required products.
1. High type: Produces mix for suitable for construction heavy duty
wearing surfaces. It employees two separate devices for
accurate separation and mixing of sands and gravels and
one for precise injection of fines
2. Intermediate type: Produces mix normally for laydown of wearing surfaces for
average traffic conditions. It blends sands and gravels in
one device only.

3. Soil stabilization: Produce material for uses ranging from base course to light
duty wearing surfaces.
Asphalt central mix plants are further classified as Batch Plants and Continuous Plant
according to the flow of final product.
2. Portable Mix Plant:
All the above equipment are generally used in a road construction, while for maintenance
purposes 3- to – 10 TPH Drier-Mixer (Portable Mix Plant) is used due to its portability
and low operating costs. A bitumen heater or kettle is used to heat the bitumen at
required temperature to feed the Portable Mix Plant.
3. Aggregate Spreader:
This is an attachment to the tipping trucks, which can be adjusted to deliver controlled
quantity of aggregate over the surface.
4. Rotary Sweeper:
This is used to remove dust from the surface before paving to obtain proper bonding
between newly laid asphalt and the old pavement.
5. Asphalt distributor:
The asphalt distributor is a truck-mounted or trailer mounted unit consisting of an
insulated tank, heating system, an asphalt pump, and a circulating and spraying system.

3
 Satya Narayan Shah
B.Sc. Engg (Mech), M.Sc. (M.Engg &Management)

6. Asphalt Pavers:

The Paver receives hot bituminous mix and places it to the desired thickness and cross
section. The standard paving width is 10 feet. This can be reduced by cutoff shoes to a
minimum width of 8 feet, or extended to a maximum width of 12 feet. It is capable of
paving 0.25” to 6 inches at the travel speed of 12 feet to 64 feet per minute.

Concrete Equipment

1. Aggregate Batching Plant

The aggregate Batching plant is designed to proportion, rapidly and accurately, the sand,
gravel, cement and water used in a concrete mix. This equipment is used to have mass
production of mix hence it is used in massive concrete casting like bridge construction or
concrete road paving.
2. Concrete Mixers
This is a portable unit used for small casting works. This machine comes with various
capacities ranging from 5 cft to 25 cft.

Earth Moving equipment

1. Bull Dozers:
This is the most versatile earthmoving tool as it accomplishes various tasks like pushing,
towing, ripping etc. Basically dozer blades consist of a moldboard, cutting edges, end bits
and blade arms connecting the blade to the tractor. Blades vary in size and type Straight
blade, Angle blade, and Special purpose blade are the main types. Dozers are also
equipped with rippers at the rear of the tractor. They are used to loosening the hard soil.
Application of Bulldozers:
1. Land clearing: - Bushes and small trees are removed by lowering the blade a few
inches into the ground to strike and cut the roots. This is usually down at the lower
speed ranges
2. Stripping: - It consists of removal of topsoil that is not usable as fill martial or as a
stable sub-grade.
3. Sidehill cutting: - Always start all sidehill cuts from the top to work down with the
cut. Working downhill gives advantage of gravity.
4. Backfilling: - Dozers are used to backfill by pushing material directly ahead of the
machine over embankments into ditches or directly against the structure. This job may
be performed either by making the blade straight or angle.
5. Dozing Rocks and Frozen ground: - Rocks are generally removed by using one corner
of the blade so that full power is applied to shorter section of the blade. Frozen ground
is broken by tilting the blade to get better penetration.
6. Ditching: - Though this machine is not ideal for this purpose but ditching may be
done by straight blade by working at right angle to the length of the ditch.
7. Spreading: - This is done by straight blade dozer so that the material is drifted under
the cutting edge directly.

Dozing Tips
1. Do not back up further than necessary, and do not push material greater distance than
required.
2. Know where the next pass is going to be and where material will be placed. Always
plan the work thoroughly.

4
 Satya Narayan Shah
B.Sc. Engg (Mech), M.Sc. (M.Engg &Management)

3. Loader/ Shovel
This equipment is mainly used for material handling. The following works can be done
with this machine
- Lowering materials to hopper
- To lift and haul around short distance.
- Light and medium excavation and dozing
- Land clearing
4. Excavator/ Backhoe
Excavators are other highly versatile machines in the sense; they can be equipped with
several different types of front-end operating attachments, which are easily
interchangeable. Excavators are generally available on three types of mountings. Crawler,
Truck, and self propelled Tyre Mountings. The common attachments available are
Shovel, Hoe, Dragline, and Clamshell- type Bucket.
5. Scrapers
Scrapers are primarily designed for self-loading, hauling and dumping during the
earthmoving phase of construction. This machine is used during the construction of roads
where massive earth excavation is to be done. Generally borrow pit material are
excavated with this machine. This machine is capable of excavation, loading, hauling,
dumping and compacting. Hence, it may be called a multi purpose machine.
6. Grader
Graders are multi purpose machines used for grading, shaping, bank sloping, and ditching
and for general construction and maintenance of roads. Grader can be employed for
leveling and crowning, mixing and spreading, ditching and bank-sloping and side-casting
material. It may also be used for light striping operations but it is not intended for heavy
excavation. Grade is also equipped with scarifier, which is used to break the hard
material.
Tips:
¾ Avoid wet and muddy condition because the traction decreases to maximum extent.
¾ Eliminate turns if it works less than1000feet. To do more passes in such situations
reversing the grader is more efficient.
¾ Avoid unnecessary passes if it is possible
¾ Proper tire inflation is very important to gain more efficiency
¾ Proper working speed.- operation should be performed as fast as possible

7. Hauling Equipment:
Mainly there are two types of hauling equipment used in the DOR. Tipping Trucks and
Mini Dumpers.

Compaction Equipment
The amount of compaction, which can be obtained, is influenced by the following factors.
1. The moisture content of the soil
2. The nature of the soil (Grain size distribution and physical properties)
3. The type and amount of tractive effort
4. Thickness of lift
5. Climatic conditions
6. Type of equipment

Among above factors the last factor is related to the equipment.

Compacting effort refers to the method employed by equipment to impart energy into the
soil to achieve required compactions. The equipment are designed to use one or a

5
 Satya Narayan Shah
B.Sc. Engg (Mech), M.Sc. (M.Engg &Management)

combination the following types of compactive efforts to the soil to achieve ultimate
result of compaction.
a. Static Weight (or Pressure)
b. Crushing
c. Kneading Action
d. Impact (or Sharp Blow)
e. Vibration (or Shaking)
Types of Compactors
Compactors can be grouped in the following types: -
1. Sheep foot
2. Grid or Mesh
3. Vibratory
4. Smooth steel drum
5. Multi tyred pneumatic
6. Heavy pneumatic
7. Vibratory tamping
8. High speed tamping foot
9. Towed tamping foot

SELECTION OF COMPACTOR
Compactor Zones of Application Compactive Effort

100% Clay Silt 100% Sand Rock

Sheepsfoot Static Wt, Kneading

Grid
Static Wt, Kneading
Vibratory
Static Weight, Vibration
Smooth Steel Drum
Static Weight, Crushing

Multi Tyred Pneumatic

Static Wt, Kneading

Heavy Pneumatic
Static Wt, Kneading

Vibratory Tamping Foot

Static Wt, Impact, Vibration

Towed Tamping Foot

Static Wt, Kneading

High Speed Tamping Foot

Static Wt, Kneading,
Impact, Vibration
Cat Tamping Foot Cat Rock Tamping Foot Static Wt, Kneading,
Impact, Vibration
6
 Satya Narayan Shah
B.Sc. Engg (Mech), M.Sc. (M.Engg &Management)

1. Sheepfoot Roller:

A sheepfoot roller is intended to shear and knead the soil to gain the required compacted
mass. Since the contact area is relatively small, many passes are necessary to obtain
maximum bearing pressure over given area. This type of roller is most effective on
cohesive soil and it is not recommended for granular or non-cohesive soils. This type of
roller is generally used for 10 to 12 inches of lift thickness.
Tip: The roller becomes lighter as the density of the soil increases.
2. Grid roller:

The roll surface is made of cast steel with grid or mesh. They are particularly effective on
granular soils to compact 6 to 8 inches to up to 18 inches on rock fills. It is an excellent
compaction machine for rock fills as it crushes the rocks with the help of mesh and
crushed particles fill the voids as it moves forward.
3. Vibratory:

Rotating eccentric shaft of the roll or wheel provides vibratory action. At the point of
resonance, the vibration of the soil is added to the compactor amplitude. At this point of
frequency, the amplitude is maximum. This frequency is approximately equal to the
natural frequency of the vibrator and the soil at contact area. Therefore the, compactor
operating frequency should be maintained at resonance or above for maximum
performance. The effect of vibration on clay is less than on sand. Dynamic force created
by a vibrator’s mechanism can be calculated from the following calculation;
F = 0 . 000341 WRN 2

Where, F = Dynamic force in pounds

W = Weight of eccentric mass in pounds
R = Radius from center of eccentric mass to center of rotation in feet
N = Rotation speed in revolutions per minute
From the above formula, it is seen that the dynamic force increases with the square of the
frequency. Dynamic force combining with the static force of the roller provides the total
striking force to the soil.
Benford Pedestrian Single drum vibratory roller owned by the DOR provides 920 Kg of
centrifugal force 3900 rpm and 65 cycles per second. This centrifugal force further
provides 7,480 Kgs. of striking force at contact soil.
A vibratory compaction has the following advantages over the conventional compaction.
a. Light weight and smaller towing unit.
b. Better mobility
c. Less expensive
d. Effective to greater depths.

4. Smooth Steel Drum:

These rollers are strong enough to crush the aggregate on the surface of asphalt lift. If
adequate compaction is not achieved the roller is loaded with extra loads (sand or water
ballast). Major disadvantage of this type of roller is that during compaction sometimes it
produces bridging of the material being compacted. The bridging effect leaves voids and
results in non-uniform compaction.
A steel roller is basically slow, does not search out soft spots. These days, it is rarely used
on earth fills and often used on asphalt surfaces.

7
 Satya Narayan Shah
B.Sc. Engg (Mech), M.Sc. (M.Engg &Management)

5. Pneumatic Roller:
These rollers are used to compact mainly bituminous road construction. They provide
more uniform compaction effect than steel roller, as there is no bridging effect due to
smaller tyre width. It has horizontal compaction forces in addition to the normal vertical
compaction force. These horizontal compaction forces work not only in the direction of
travel, but also across the machine. These various compaction forces thus are able to
move materials in all directions. The effect of these forces supplemented by the elasticity
of the rubber tyres provides a “Kneading effect” and results in superior compaction. The
contact area can be increased or decreased by variation of tyre air pressure to have
different compaction pressure on the material.