BTB 321: Construction Plant & Equipment Week I.

1st Semester 2024/2025.

Lecturer: Dr. Bruce Kandie Week 1

Construction Plant & Equipment

Introduction

Good project management in construction must vigorously pursue the efficient utilization of
labour, material land and equipment. The use of new equipment and innovative methods has made
possible wholesale changes in construction technologies in recent decades. The selection of the
appropriate type and size of construction equipment often affects the required amount of time and
effort thus the job-site productivity of a project. It is therefore important for site managers and
construction planners to be familiar with the characteristics of the major types of equipment most
commonly used in construction.

Construction Plant and Equipment is a subject that deals with operating, using and
maintaining building and civil construction machinery and plant. It also addresses health
and safety regulations related to the use of various machines.

Selection of appropriate type and size of equipment affects the amount of time and effort thus job
site productivity of project.

Plant

Plants are the assembly of many equipment and moving parts of different functions and capacity.
Generally large piece of equipment which is stationary at one place like Asphalt Concrete Plant,
Concrete Batching Plant, Crusher Plant, Concrete Block Making Plant, Brick Making Plant, etc.
are termed as plant. These plants will have the combination of several machine and equipment.

There are many different types of plant in use. They are: oil plant, gas plant, brick making plant,
block making plant, cars making plant, diesel plant, thermal plant, hydro power plant, concrete
batching and mixing plant, asphalt plant etc.

For the purpose of this book, we take plant, machine and equipment as synonymous.

Reasons or benefits for using construction plant

1. Better quality work

2. Increase the rate of output through work progress with the best effective and efficient methods.
High work output.
3. Reduced overall construction costs especially for large contracts
4. Carry out activities which cannot be done manually. to do them more economically and much
faster
5. Eliminate the heavy manual work by human thus reducing fatigue and eliminating various
other hazards and health issues.
6. Maintain the planned rate of production where there is a shortage of skilled or unskilled labour
7. Maintain the high-quality standards often required by present-day design and specifications
(technical, Economic Considerations, Company-Specific, Site-Specific, Equipment Specific,
Client and Project-Specific, Manufacturer-Specific, Labour Consideration).

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BTB 321: Construction Plant & Equipment Week I.
1st Semester 2024/2025.
Lecturer: Dr. Bruce Kandie Week 1

Factors affecting selection of construction equipment’s and plants

1. Economic considerations such as owning costs, operating labour costs and operating fuel costs
of equipment are most important in selection of equipment. Besides, the resale value, the
replacement costs of existing equipment and the salvage value associated with the equipment
are also important.
2. Company policy on owning or renting’. While emphasis on owning may result in purchase of
equipment keeping in mind the future requirement of projects, the emphasis on renting may
lead to putting too much focus on short-term benefits.
3. Site conditions-both ground conditions as well as climatic conditions. For example, the soil
and profile of a site may dictate whether to go for a crawler-mounted equipment or a wheel-
mounted equipment. If there is a power line in the vicinity of the site one may go for a fixed-
base kind of equipment rather than a mobile kind of equipment.
4. Construction equipments come with high price tags. While it may be tempting to go for the
equipment with low initial price, it is preferable to opt for standard equipments. Such
equipments are manufactured in large numbers by the manufacturers, and their spare parts are
easily available, which would ensure minimum downtime. Besides, they can also fetch good
salvage money at the time of their disposal.
5. The owner/client preferences. This may not be in line with the construction companies
preferred policies as far as equipment procurement is concerned. The schedule, quality and
safety requirements demanded of a particular project may in some cases force the company to
yield to the demands of the client.
6. A construction company may prefer to buy equipment from the same manufacturer again and
again, and that too from a specific dealer. This may be to bring in uniformity in the equipment
fleet possessed by the company or because the company is familiar with the working style of
the manufacturer and the dealer.
7. Shortage of manpower. In some situations, this may lead to a decision in favour of procuring
equipment that is highly automated. Further, the selection of equipment may be governed by
the availability or non-availability of trained manpower.

Performance/work evaluation

Performance evaluation helps in the communication between the contractor and the
customer/client of the construction project, so that the latter can monitor the status of construction.
It also serves as a basis for implementing the changes required in each procedure, allowing
optimisation efficiency and enhanced performance.

Performance can be evaluated by:

a. Monitoring the processes: this provides information that enable checking the status
of processes and seek to control the activities. The information provided by can be used
in the correction of activities to enhance performance;
b. Assessing the performance of a project: it is based on the final results of the
procedures and can be used as a benchmark for future similar activities or for
comparison with pre-established values. Its value is intended to help undertake the
general assessment of the procedures.

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BTB 321: Construction Plant & Equipment Week I.
1st Semester 2024/2025.
Lecturer: Dr. Bruce Kandie Week 1

Types of construction equipment’s

Typically, construction equipment is used to perform essentially repetitive operations, and can be
broadly classified according to two basic functions:

Construction plant and equipment may also be categorised as follows:

1. Excavation, loading equipment’s and grading equipment’s.

2. Compaction.
3. Concreting equipment’s.
4. Bitumen laying equipment’.
5. Transporting equipment’s.
6. Lifting and erecting equipment’s.
7. Piling plant.
8. Drilling and blasting equipment.
9. Equipment for dewatering and grouting.
10. Auxiliary equipment’s.

The industry can be broadly classified under the following categories:

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BTB 321: Construction Plant & Equipment Week I.
1st Semester 2024/2025.
Lecturer: Dr. Bruce Kandie Week 1

Excavation, loading and grading equipments

Earthmoving may include site preparation; excavation; embankment construction; backfilling;

dredging; preparing base course, sub-base, and sub-grade; compaction and road surfacing. For
earthmoving operations, material is placed in three categories - rock, soil (common earth), and
unclassified. Soil weight affects the performance of the equipment as how dozers push, graders
cast, and scrapers load the material.

Equipments under this category include:

a) Excavators
b) Front shovel
c) Front end loaders
d) Backhoe/backactor
e) Dozers
f) clamshell
g) Trenchers
h) Motor graders
i) Scrappers

Excavators

They consist of:

a. Boom
b. stick (dipper arm)
c. bucket and
d. cab on a rotating platform known as the house that sits atop an undercarriage with
tracks or wheels.

Excavators are extensively used in many roles such as:

a. digging of trenches and foundations

b. demolition
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BTB 321: Construction Plant & Equipment Week I.
1st Semester 2024/2025.
Lecturer: Dr. Bruce Kandie Week 1

c. general grading/landscaping
d. heavy lifting (e.g. lifting and placing of large concrete pipes)
e. river dredging
f. Driving piles in conjunction with a pile driver.

Front shovel

The front shovel consists of crawler tracks, house, cab, boom, stick and a shovel. It is known for
large shovel capacity used to load heavy-duty hauling trucks. The shovels are available in either
front or bottom dumping models. In bottom dumping shovels, the shovel separates in the middle
so the material can drop through the bottom instead of tilting the bucket forward and dumping out
the front.

The main application of shovels is to move earth. It digs above track level in an upward motion
crowding material away from itself. It has high breaking force capable of excavating heavily

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BTB 321: Construction Plant & Equipment Week I.
1st Semester 2024/2025.
Lecturer: Dr. Bruce Kandie Week 1

compacted dirt and rocks, but because of its short boom and stick, it must be close to the material
it is digging.

Front end loaders

Loader is a machine that uses a wide tilting bucket on the end of movable arms to lift and move
materials such as sand, debris, dirt and mud into other vehicles, thereby clearing rubble and digging
materials in the construction sites.

Wheeled loaders are more popular since they provide better mobility and speed. The flexibility of
usage is low as compared to a backhoe. Loaders are largely used as complimentary products for
material re-handling in construction applications.

Backator/ backhoe

Comprises of a small backhoe in the rear end, a tractor, front shovel and replaceable bucket.

It can duplicate the work of a bulldozer, front end loader and excavator. The backhoe loader also
has the advantage of being driven directly to the different job areas. These can also be associated
with variety of other instruments like augers, hydraulic hammers, asphalt grinders and grapples.

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BTB 321: Construction Plant & Equipment Week I.
1st Semester 2024/2025.
Lecturer: Dr. Bruce Kandie Week 1

The attachment of different tools allows backhoe loaders to do multiple jobs like:

a. Light demolition
b. Transportation of light building material;
c. Digging holes;
d. Paving roads;
e. Breaking asphalt;
f. Small urban engineering projects.

Clamshell

The clamshell bucket is a sophisticated articulating two-piece bucket mechanically hinged at the
middle to form a claw-like appendage with an internal volume. It is attached by a hangar or bracket
and uses ground engaging tool on its cutting edge to dig in a vertical direction. Clamshell buckets
are commonly used in dredging, excavation or material handling; however, each application has
its unique requirements and has to be designed optimally for maximum efficiency. Clamshell may
be operated by hydraulic, mechanical (cable) or by both hydraulic and mechanical means.

Hydraulic clamshell bucket is designed to be attached onto an excavator. The dual or quad
hydraulic cylinders/rams mounted on the outer rim of the bucket provide excellent digging force.
The inner side of the bucket has a smooth surface for easy unloading of high viscosity material
such as mud and clay, while the outer layer is reinforced with additional layer of wear strips.

The fully mechanical clamshell is designed specifically to be used on a crane for large capacity
dredging and digging applications. The opening and closing action are operated via cable. The
inner side of the bucket has a smooth surface for easy unloading of high viscosity material such as
mud and clay, while the outer layer is reinforced with additional layer of wear strips. The hanger
is constructed with high tensile steel.

Telescopic dipper arms are used where dip excavation work needs to be carried out in tightly
spaced environment. The single centred mount hydraulic cylinder/ram clamshell bucket is
specifically designed to be used on a telescopic dipper arm. The unique and powerful customized
hydraulic cylinder/ram delivers smooth opening and closing actions with strong penetration force
which is a pre-requisite for an effective telescopic clamshell bucket.

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BTB 321: Construction Plant & Equipment Week I.
1st Semester 2024/2025.
Lecturer: Dr. Bruce Kandie Week 1

Applications:

a. Digging pits for ground construction work.

b. Ideal for digging and loading material in tight and limited spaces.
c. Material handling, loading and unloading industrial wastes, grains, sands, etc.
d. Heavy duty mechanical clamshell is ideal for dredging application by crane.

Dozers

Dozers equipped are heavy machines used for clearing and grading land, usually having
continuous treads and a broad hydraulic blade in front.

Parts of a grader include:

a. Tractor,
b. blade and
c. rippers.

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BTB 321: Construction Plant & Equipment Week I.
1st Semester 2024/2025.
Lecturer: Dr. Bruce Kandie Week 1

The blade may be lifted and forced down by hydraulic rams.

a. For digging, the blade is held below surface level;

b. For transporting, it is held at the surface level
c. For spreading, it is held above the surface level, as the tractor moves forward.

Depending on the nature of the work, dozer blades come in three varieties that are

a. Straight Blade, which is short having no lateral curve and no side wings and used
only for fine grading;
b. Universal Blade, which is very tall and curved and has large side wings capable to
carry more material
c. Combination Blade, which is short in length, less curved and has smaller side
wings.

A ripper – mounted on the end opposite the shovel. The ripper is used to break up compacted
ground or paved areas.

Uses of dozers include-

a. In Earthmoving;
b. Road construction;
c. Lifting various materials;
d. Breaking pavements and compacted grounds;
e. Digging of canals;
f. Land clearing and land levelling;
g. Preparation of construction sites;
h. Removal of civil engineering projects.

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BTB 321: Construction Plant & Equipment Week I.
1st Semester 2024/2025.
Lecturer: Dr. Bruce Kandie Week 1

Trenchers

Trenchers perform functions like

a. Landscaping;
b. Irrigation;
c. Plumbing;
d. Underground utility construction for water and sewer services.

Special trenching components available to cut through rocky soils, paving and frozen ground etc.

Based on the size and usage these can be categorized as chain trenchers, wheel or disc trenchers
and bucket trenchers. With attachments like backhoes, saws and reel carriers, trenchers become
more versatile and efficient.

Trenchers must be handled with extreme care because they are very dangerous equipment’s.

Motor graders

A motor grader is an earth-moving apparatus equipped with a long blade used to level a surface of
roads and construction sites. Graders can produce inclined surfaces, to give cant (camber) to roads.
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BTB 321: Construction Plant & Equipment Week I.
1st Semester 2024/2025.
Lecturer: Dr. Bruce Kandie Week 1

At the end it has a plow which stays close to the ground. A blade is situated under the cab to spread
and push gravel.

Motor graders operated from the centre of the machine are used for

• levelling the surface during earthwork in embankments and providing blanket

surface before spreading ballast and laying track.
• to set native soil foundation pads to finish grade prior to the construction of large
buildings and for underground mining.

Scrappers

The scraper cuts soil with a sharp blade at the front bottom of the bucket. The soil is stored in the
bucket and can be released at the required location. The construction scrapers have hydraulically
operated bails and push blocks with hooks.

They are one of the most versatile equipment that performs different functions is used for
excavating, digging and hauling of materials.

Uses of scrapers include:

• Preparing the ground for the new loads of solid waste; in preparing work at landfills
• In preparing the sites for construction (road, etc.) through digging, loading, hauling
and dumping the wastes materials etc.

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