Dec- 2020

Construction Equipment
CENG-5201
Lecture Three

Eyob Tesfamariam
Eyob.tesfamariam@aastu.edu.et
Chapter Three: Construction Equipment
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Earth Work Equipment
3.2.1 Excavating and Loading Equipment
3.2.2 Hauling and Hoisting Equipments
3.4 Compacting and Finishing Equipments
3.5 Others
3.1 Introduction
Based on the activities of earth work which includes some of the
following activities;
 Excavating, Construction equipments can be further
 Hauling, classified as;
• Earth Work Equipments
 Loading, • Hauling and Hoisting Equipments
 Placing(damp & spread), • Pumping Equipments
• Others types
 Grading,
 Compacting and
 Final Finishing
3.2 Earth Work Equipment
Earth work equipment are broadly classified into earth moving
and compaction equipments.
Earthmoving equipment

Excavating and loading and Hauling and hoisting

Excavating and loading Equipment

The major types of excavating equipments used in earthmoving

operations include;
• Hydraulic excavators and the member of the cable operated
crane shovel family (which includes shovels, draglines, hoes, and
clamshells)
• Dozers, loaders and scrapers serve as excavators.
• Most of the excavators and loaders are also used as loading
equipments in earth moving operations.
 Crane Shovel Family

1 2 3

1.CRANE (HOOK) 2.CLAMSHELL 3.DRAGLINE

4 5 6

4.BACK HOE
5.SHOVEL 6.PILE DRIVER
 1.CRANE (HOOK)
• 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. The device 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.
Tower crane

Gantry crane
Vehicle crane
 2.CLAMSHELL
Clamshells are used primarily for holding and releasing materials such
as sand, gravel, crushed stone, coal, etc. and for removing materials from
inside cofferdams, pier foundations, sewer manholes, sheet‐lined
trenches, etc.
• They are specially suited to vertically lifting materials from one
location to another, as in charging hoppers and overhead bins.
• The limits of vertical movements may be relatively large when they
are used with long crane booms.
• By the use of different attachments shovel families can be versatile.
 3.DRAGLINE
Draglines are used to excavate earth and load it into hauling units,
such as trucks or tractors‐pulled wagons, or deposit it into levees,
dams and spoil banks near the pits from which it was excavated.

•These equipments are more

efficient for excavation
below the grade level and for
under water construction.

• But they are weak while

excavating hard materials
and have a lesser
productivity than a face
shovels.

Dragline Excavator
DRAGLINE cont.…….
The output of a dragline vary with the following factors:

• Class of material, • Management conditions,

• Depth of cut,
• Angle of swing,
• Size and type of bucket,
• Length of boom,
• Job conditions,
• Method of disposal
• Size of hauling units
• Skill of the operator and
• Physical condition of the
machine.
 4. BACK HOE (Back Loader)
Backhoes are used primarily to excavate below the natural surface of
the ground on which the machine rests.

• They are adapted to excavating trenches, pits for basements,

and general grading work, which requires precise control of
depths
• This equipment serve as both
excavator and loading.
• Small in size and productivity
• Very effective and efficient for
small scale activities.
• Easily moveable from one
place to the other.
 5. SHOVEL
• Face shovel is an equipment used mainly in quarries, pits and
on construction sites to excavate and load blasted rock.
• These equipments are more effective for excavations above the
wheel or grade level.
• The basic parts of a power shovel include the mounting, cab,
boom, dipper stick, dipper (bucket), and hoist line.
The output of a shovel is affected by numerous factors, including the
following:

 Class of material,
 Depth of cut
 angle of swing,
 job conditions,
 Management conditions,
 size of hauling units,
 skill of operator and
 physical condition of the shovel
 6. PILE DRIVER
• Pile driver is a device used to drive piles in to a soil to provide
foundation support for buildings or other structure
 Hydraulic Excavators
Hydraulic excavators replaced the cable operated crane shove family
because of the advantage :
• Faster cycle time,
• higher bucket penetrating force,
• more precise digging and
• easier operator control
In addition to that many attachments can be
made to increase the versatility of the
equipments.
 Augers: Drills holes for poles, posts, soil sampling and ground
improvement activities
 Jack Hammer: vibratory hammer used to break up concrete and rock.
 Bucket Ripper: The bucket sides and bottom are lined with ripper teeth
to break up hard soil or soft rock.
 Thumb Bucket: attached to bucket to provide a hook capacity.
 Auger Drill

Jack hammer
Excavation
Bucket Ripper
Excavation Thumb
Bucket
 Loaders
A tractor equipped with a front – end bucket is called a loader, front end
loader or bucket loader.
 These equipments are primarily used to load excavated materials to a
hauling unit, excavate soft to medium materials, loading hoppers,
stockpiling materials, backfilling ditches, and moving concrete and
other construction materials.
 Both track and wheel loaders are available.
 Attachments available for the loader include augers, backhoes,
crane booms, dozer and forklifts.
 Some models of wheel loaders are
designed as a combination of a backhoe
and loader and often
 Auger mounted Loader Crane booms mounted Loader

Forklift mounted loader

 Back loader (back hoe)

Dozer blade mounted loader

 Dozers or Bull Dozers
A tractor equipped with a front mounted
earthmoving blade
A dozer moves earth by lowering the blade and
cutting until a full blade load of materials is
obtained. It then pushes the material across the
ground surface to the required location.
 Both rubber tire (and wheel) and crawler (or
track) dozers are available

Dozers are most versatile: the can be

used to clearing land, opening up pilot
roads through mountains and rocky
terrain, moving earth for a short hauling
distances, helping load scrapers, spreading
earth fills, backfilling trenches etc.
 Dozers are mounted with the blades
perpendicular to the direction of travel,
Tilting
while angle dozers are mounted with the
blades set at an angle with the direction of
travel.
 Depending on the earth work operation,
the machine operator can change the
blade position.
Pitching
 By using the weight of dozer and its
chain dozer can be used to crush weather
rock.
 At the back of the dozer their is ripper to
rip the rock ground for multiple purpose.
Based on the positions of the blade: ‐
 Tilting ‐ Tilting the blade is used to cut
weathered rock materials. Angling
 Pitching ‐ Forward Pitching – is used to
roll materials forward and Backward
Pitching – is used to increase depth of cut.
 Angling ‐ This is used to push
 Grader (Finisher)
Grading is the process of bringing
earthwork to the desired shape and
elevation (grade).
Finish grading involves smoothing slopes,
shaping ditches, and bringing the earth
work to the required elevation. Such
operation are usually carried out by a
Grader
• Motor Grader is one of the most versatile
earth moving equipment which can be
used for various application
• It is used in grading and ditching, etc. of
a natural ground level.
• The blade of a grader can be tilted,
pitched and suspended.
• There is also a ripper at the back of
grader to rip the ground to bring at
desired elevation level
 Choice of excavation equipment

1. Size of the job:

2. Activity time constraints:
3. Availability of equipment:
4. Cost of transportation of equipment:
5. Type of excavation:
6. Soil characteristics:
7. Geometric characteristics of elements of the to be excavated:
8. Space constraints:
9. Characteristics of haul units:
10. Location of dumping areas:
11. Weather condition (temperature)
 Productivity of Excavators, Loaders, Dozers and
Graders

 Once the equipment needs for an activity have been identified, the
next step is to conduct an equipment productivity analysis to select
the optimum size.
 The objective is to determine the number of units and the size of
equipment that would permit the contractor to accomplish the
activity with a duration resulting in the lowest cost possible.
 Productivity of an equipment can be classified as peak or theoretical
and actual;
 Peak (Theoretical) Productivity is the theoretical productivity
governed by design limitations only.
 Actual Productivity on the other hand is the productivity of an
equipment after due consideration of the differently influencing
factors
Where
Qa = Actual Productivity
Qth = Theoretical Productivity
f1,f2 ………….. Factors influencing the theoretical productivity
From productivity concept equipments and how they can operate can be
broadly classified into two;
I) Cyclic Operating or
II) Continuously Operating
I. Cyclic Operating Equipments
These are machines which are intentionally or unintentionally influenced
by their operators. The theoretical productivity can be computed from

Where
 II Continuously Operating Equipments
These are machines that continuously operate like pumps, conveyer belts,
etc. For these kinds of machines:
 Productivity of Shovel Family and Excavators
 The actual productivity of the shovel family is dependent on the actual
volume per cycle and the cycle time. Thus, to compute the actual
productivity one should be able to make a good estimate of the actual
bucket capacity (which depends on the soil characteristics) and the
cycle time.
 The actual productivity of these equipments can be estimated from the
following expression;

To utilize the Equation for estimating the production of shovel family or an

excavator, it is necessary to know the volume of material actually contained
in one bucket load. The methods by which excavator bucket and dozer are
given in Table 2.1,
HEAPED
Plate line or Water line capacity assumes a level of material flush with
the lowest edge of the bucket (i.e., the material level corresponds to the
water level that would result if the bucket were filled with water).

 Since bucket ratings for the cable shovel, dragline, and cable backhoe
are based on struck volume, it is often assumed that the heaping of the
buckets will compensate for the swell of the soil. That is, a 5m3 bucket
would be assumed to actually hold 5 bank m3 of material.
 A better estimate of the volume of material in one bucket load will be
obtained by multiplying the nominal bucket volume with a bucket fill
factor or bucket efficiency factor.
 Suggested values of bucket fill factor for common soils are given in
Table 2.2,
 The most accurate estimate of bucket load is obtained by multiplying
the heaped bucket volume (loose measure) by the bucket fill factor.
Bucket load = heaped bucket volume* bucket fill factor
 If desired, the bucket load may be converted to bank volume by
multiplying its loose volume by the soil’s load factor. This procedure is
illustrated with the following examples
 Productivity of excavator
Production of a hydraulic excavator then can be estimated by using the
following equation together with Tables 2.2 through which have been
prepared from manufacturers’ data,

• As a rule the optimum depth of cut for excavator is 30-90% of the

machine’s maximum digging depth.
• Bucket Fill Factor (B) Is the percentage of an available volume in a
hauler body , bucket that is actually used. E.g. a fill factor of 90% for a
hauler body means that 10% of the rated volume is not being used to
carry the material. And according to the material type bucket fill factor
may exceed 100% (moist loam material)
• Swing depth factor
Example
Find the expected production in loose cubic meter (LCM) per hour of a
small hydraulic excavator, If it its heaped bucket capacity is 0.57 m3.
The material is sand and gravel with a bucket fill factor of 0.95. Job
efficiency is 48 min/h. Average depth of cut is 4.27m. Maximum depth of
cut is 6.1m and average swing is 90 degree.
Qa = 0.57*250*1.0*0.95*.80
= 108.3m3/hr
In trenching work a fall‐in factor should be applied to excavator
production to account for the work required to clean out material that
falls back into the trench from the trench walls. Normal excavator
production should be multiplied by the adjustment factors shown on
Table 2.6, to obtain the effective trench production
 Main Cycle time activities for excavator

1. Excavate/ load to the excavator bucket

2. Bucket material loaded Swing to the dump truck side (loaded swing)
3. Swing back to the excavated area (Empty swing) (Back to digging
ground)
 Steps for estimating production of Excavator/hoe:
Step-1: Obtain the heaped bucket load volume (in Lm3) from the
manufacturers data sheet. Heaped bucket capacity ratings for Excavator
buckets assume a 1:1 material angle of repose.
Step-2: Determine a bucket fill factor (B)based on the type of machine
and the class of material being excavated. Refer Table 2.2.
Step-3: Estimate cycle time (load, swing, dump and swing empty). Refer
the following Table. Swing is influenced by job conditions such as
obstructions and clearances.

Bucket size Load Bucket Swing Dump Swing Total cycle

(cy) (sec) loaded (sec) bucket (sec) empty (sec) (sec)
<1 5 4 2 3 14
1-1.5 6 4 2 3 15
2-2.5 6 4 3 4 17
3 7 5 4 4 20
3.5 7 6 4 5 22
4 7 6 4 5 22
5 7 7 4 6 24
Step-4: Check depth of cut. Refer Table D-3.Typical cycle times are for
depth of cut between 30-90% of maximum digging depth
Step-5: Check loading height, Does the selected Excavator/hoe have the
reach capability to load the haul unit. Refer table D-3.
Step-6: Efficiency factor:-The three primary conditions that control the
efficiency of excavator loading operations are.
• Bunching: In actual operation cycle times are never constant. When
loading haul units they will sometimes bunch. The impact of bunching is
a function of the number of haul units.
• Operator efficiency: How good is the operator?
• Equipment availability: Are the haul units in good condition and
repair? They will be available x% of the time.
Step-7: productivity calculation.
𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 7
𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 1 ∗ 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 2 ∗ = LCY/hr
𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 4
LCY = Loose cubic yard (Lyd3)
Step-8: Convert production to Bank Volume (BCY)
 3600 𝑠𝑒𝑐∗𝑄∗𝐹∗(𝐴𝑆:𝐷) 𝐸 1
Production = ∗ ∗ ( )
𝑡 60−min ℎ𝑟 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

Volume correction
1
= =
1+𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙

Load factor (FL)

 Relating similarity of both equation on each items
3600 𝑠𝑒𝑐∗𝑄∗𝐹∗(𝐴𝑆:𝐷) 𝐸 1
Production = ∗ ∗ (𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛) or
𝑡 60𝑚𝑖𝑛/ℎ𝑟

Production----------------------------------------------------------------- Qa
Q---------------------------------------------------------------------Vn
Cycle time /hr-----------------------------------------------no
F-----------------------------------------------------B
AS:D------------------------------------S
E/60min =
Volume correction factor is used to covert loose volume in to bank volume
Example
A crawler hoe having a 3½-cy bucket is being considered for use on a
project to excavate very hard clay from a borrow pit. The clay will be
loaded into trucks having a loading height of 9.75 ft. Soil- boring
information indicates that below 9 ft, the material changes to an
unacceptable silt material. What is the estimated production of the hoe in
cubic yards bank measure, if the efficiency factor is equal to 50-min/hour?
Solution

Step-1: Size of bucket = 3½-cy

Step-2: Bucket fill factor, Table 2.2 gives 0.65-0.95%, Use average Bucket fill
factor = (0.65+0.95)/2 =80%.
Step-3: Typical cycle element times Optimum depth of cut is 30-90% of
maximum digging depth. From Table D-3 for a 3½ -CY size Hoe, maximum
digging depth is 23-27 ft, Depth of excavation 8 ft. checking
(9ft/23ft) x 100 = 39.13% ≥ 30% okay!
(9ft/27ft) x 100 = 33.33% ≥ 30% okay!
Therefore, under average conditions and for 3½-Cy Size hoe, cycle times from
Table D-2:
1. Load Bucket 7sec Very hard clay
2. Swing with load 6sec Load trucks
3. Dump load 4sec Load trucks
4. Return swing 5sec Cycle time = 22sec
Step-4: Efficiency factor, 50 min/hour = 50/60 =0.8333
Step-5: Class of material, hard clay Swell 35% (Table D-4)
1 1
Volume correction = = =0.741
1+𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 1+0.35
Step-6: Probable production
3600 𝑠𝑒𝑐∗𝑄∗𝐹(𝐴𝑆:𝐷) 𝐸 1
Production = ∗ ∗( )
𝑡 60−min/ℎ𝑟 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

3600 𝑠𝑒𝑐∗3.5𝑐𝑦∗0.80 50 1
Production = ∗ ∗( )
22𝑠𝑒𝑐 60 0.741

=515.28 Bcy /hr

From table D-3 maximum loading height is 21-22 ft > 9.75 ft
Exercise
An excavator have a 3cy bucket is being considered for use on a project to
excavate very hard clay with a swell factor of 35% from a borrow pit. The clay will
be loaded into trucks having a loading height of 10 ft. The average cycle time for
the excavator to load bucket, swing, dump, return is 20 second. The efficiency
factor is equal to a 50-min hour? What is the estimated production of the
excavator in cubic yards bank measure?
 Productivity of Face shovel
A face shovels are used predominantly for hard digging above track level
and for loading hauling units. Shovels are capable of developing high
breakout force with their buckets, but the material being excavated should
be such that it will stand a vertical bank.
Estimation of shovel production
The production capacity or output of a shovel is expressed in cubic meter
per hour. There are four elements in the production cycle of a shovel:-.
 Loading bucket,
 Swing with load,
 Dump load and
 Return swing with empty bucket
The output varies for various type of materials to be excavated. The
following are the main factors which affect the output of face shovel:-
• Site Condition • Mechanical condition of shovel
• Height or Depth of cut • Efficiency of the operator
• Type of material • Relative positions of the shovel and hauling unit
• Angle of swing • Type of machine such as crawler or wheeled
• Capacity of hauling unit and continuity of work
 Face shovel productivity factors
I. Optimum Height of Cut:-is the height that will result in a full dipper
(bucket) in one pass. If the height of cut is shallow, the bucket does
not fill up in one pass. The operator has a choice of making more than
one passes or apply more pressure and this process increases the cycle
time and eventually reduce its production. If the height of cut is higher
than the optimum, then the bucket will be filled before pass
completion. In this case the operator has a choice of applying less
pressure on the bucket or digs upper part first then, clean bottom part
later.

II. Angle of swing: The angle of swing of a shovel is the horizontal

angle, expressed in degrees, between the position of the bucket when
it is excavating and the position where it discharges the load. The total
cycle time includes digging, swing to the dumping position, dumping
and returning to the digging position. Increasing the swing angle
will increase the cycle time and vise versa.
Table 8.2 factors for height of cut and angle of swing effect on shovel production

hourly out put (cy/hr or m3 /hr) can be calculated from the following formula
The above figures are for crawler type of tractor shovel, however for wheel
shovels, bucket factor is about 10% lesser than those mentioned above.
Example
A hydraulic front shovel excavating common earth has a heaped capacity
of 1.5 cyd. Its maximum digging height is given by the manufacturer as
7m. the average angle of swing 120 degree. the average height of cut is
2.94m. What is the hourly rate of production in bm3/hr, if the shovels
cycle time is 19 sec? Take the shovel‘s optimum height of cut as equal to
30% of its maximum digging height. Assume the job efficiency and bucket
load factor to be 50min/hr and 0.8 respectively.
 Productivity of Dragline
A dragline excavator is especially useful when there is need for
extended reach in excavating or when material must be
excavated from under water.

Output or performance of dragline depends on the following factors:

 Nature of the soil  Mechanical condition of the dragline

 Depth of cut.  Efficiency and skill of the operator.
 Angle of swing.  Management conditions.
 Length of boom  Size and type of bucket.
 Method of disposal  Working cycle
 Capacity of hauling units, if employed.
Dragline Production = Bucket capacity (m3) *Number of cycle(C) *f
Example
An experienced operator has to excavate wet gravel‘ with a dragline capacity of 2.3
m3. The boom length is 18m and the swing angle will be 120 degrees. The material is
dumped onto stockpile (accumulated). Actual working time is 50 min per hour.
Determine the output of dragline.
 Productivity of clamshell
Clamshell excavators provide the means to excavate vertically to
considerable depth and it is capable of working at, above and below
ground level. The method of estimating the productivity of clamshell is
similar with the dragline.

Clamshell Production (m3/hr)= Clamshell Capacity (m3) x C x f

Where, C = Theoretical Cycles/hr = 120 Cycles/hr
f = Correcting factor
f= f1 x f2 x f3 x f4 x f5 x f6 x f7
f1 – Fill factor, Same as those for dragline.
Example
An average operator has to excavate damp sand with a clamshell of 2.0
m3. The digging depth is 10m and the swing angle will be 120 degrees.
The sand is added into trucks and actual working time is 50 min/hr.
 Productivity of Dozers
A dozer has no set volumetric capacity. There is no hopper or bowl to
load; instead, the amount of material the dozer moves is dependent on the
quantity that will remain in front of the blade during the push.

The production of dozer mainly depends upon the following factors:

* Size and condition of the dozer *Distance traveled by the dozer

* Speed of operation *Characteristic of soil being handled
* Surface on which dozer is operating * Efficiency

The major factors that control dozer production rate are:

 Condition of the material
 Blade type
 Cycle time

Pdozer = 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒 load capacity per cycle ∗

cycle time per hour ∗
Efficiency
Condition of the material
The type and condition of the material being handled affects the shape of
the pushed mass in front of the blade.
 Cohesive materials (clays) will boil‘ and heap.
 Materials that exhibit a slippery quality or those with high mica
content will ride over the ground and swell out.
 Cohesion less materials (sands) are known as dead materials because
they do not exhibit heap or swell properties.
Blade type
• By design, straight blades roll material in front of the blade, and
universal and semi universal blades control side spillage by holding
the material with in blade.
• Blade capacity is a function of a blade type and physical size.

Blade Volumetric Load

The load that a blade will carry can be estimated by several methods:

i. Manufacturer's blade rating

ii. Previous experience (similar material, equipment, and work conditions)
iii. Field measurements
Manufacturers Blade rating
Manufacturers may provide a blade rating based on available
standards and the purpose the standard is to provide uniform
method for calculating blade capacity. The manufacturer may use the
following formula to estimate the productivity of a dozer
Previous experience
Properly documented past experience is an excellent blade load
estimating method. Documentation requires that the excavated area
be cross sectioned to determine the total volume of material moved
and that the number of dozer cycle recorded.

Field measurements
Cycle time
The sum of the time required for pushing, backtracking, and
maneuver into position to push represents the complete dozer
cycle. The time required to push and back track can be calculated
for each dozing situation considering the travel distance and
obtaining a speed from the machine‘s performance chart.

• Dozing is generally performed at slow speed, 1.5 to 2 mph.

• Return Speed is usually the maximum that can be attained in the
distance available.
• When using performance charts to determine possible speeds,
remember the chart identifies instantaneous speed in calculating
cycle duration, the estimator must use an average speed that
accounts for the time required to accelerate to the attainable
speed as indicated by the chart.

For distances less than 100 ft, the operator cannot get the machine
past the second gear.
Example A power-shift crawler tractor has a rated blade capacity of
7.65Lm3. The dozer is excavating loose common earth and pushing a
distance of 200ft (61m) with speed of 4km/hr. Maximum reverse speed in
third range is 8 km/hr. Estimate the production of the dozer, if job
efficiency is 50 min/hr.
 Productivity of Loaders
Loader production can be estimated as the product of average bucket
multiplied by cycles per hour .
Basic cycle time for a loader includes the time required for
 Loading to the bucket
 Traveling to the dump truck, (short time usually not more than 5m)
 dumping from loaders bucket (loading to dump truck)
 Travel time Back to material expected to be loaded ,
• The important aspect is determining the actual travel time. Travel times
shall be determined from manufacturer’s performance curves.

𝐵𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

𝑃 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 = ∗ ∗bucket fill factor* Efficiency
𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟

Cycle time =
load to the bucket +
travel to dump truck+ load to dump truck
Return to stock material
 The production rate for wheel loader will depend on the:

1. Fixed cycle time required to load the bucket, maneuver with four
reversals of direction and dump the load.
2. Time required travelling from the loading to the dumping position.
3. Time required returning to the loading position.
4. Volume of material hauled on each cycle.

Table A-1 Bucket fill factors for wheel and truck loader
 Productivity of Graders
Grader production is usually calculated on a linear basis (kilometers
completed per hour) for a road way projects and on an area basis (square
meters per hour) for general construction projects. The time required to
complete a roadway may be estimated as follows

𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 ∗𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 (𝐤𝐦) 𝟏

T𝐢𝐦𝐞(𝐡𝐫) = *
𝐀𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐤𝐦/𝐡𝐫) 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲

Average speed depends on the operator skill, machine characteristics,

and job condition. Typical grader speeds for various types of operations
are given in Table 2 – 7.
Output of a motor grader depends upon the following main factors:

i. Size and mechanical condition of the motor grader

ii. Size of the blade
iii. Speed of travel
iv. Characteristics of soil being handled
v. Efficiency of the operator

In the majority of the cases, as the grader has multiple applications, the
computation of its productivity is not always possible. It can, however, be
estimated, case by case.
 Average actual productivity for leveling and spreading can be
computed as follow
Qa = B x L x fN x fZ x 60/T [m2/hr]
Where,
 B = width per strip with due consideration of over lapping
 B = l* cos(A) and Qa = average actual productivity
 l = length of blade
 A = Angle of blade with respect to the axis (refer Table 4.1)
 L = lift thickness after compaction
 fN= factor to take care of site conditions, operator effectiveness (refer
Table 4.2) * fZ= time factor (refer Table 4.3)
 T = Cycle time, T = 0.06⅀ P/v * P = number of passes
 V = forward and back ward average speed
 Grader production is also calculated as area covered by motor
grader per hour.
A = B x Vav x η
Where,
• B = width per strip (m) = 0.8 * l * cos A
• l = length of blade
• A = Angle with respect to axis
• Vav = Average speed (m/hr)
• η = efficiency
• Time required to complete a roadway project can be calculated by

𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 ∗𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 (𝐤𝐦) 𝟏

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞(𝐡𝐫) = *
𝐀𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐤𝐦/𝐡𝐫) 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲
Example
A 25 km gravel road requires re-shaping and leveling. It is estimated that
six passes of a motor grader will be required. Based on the operator skill,
machine characteristics, and job condition, estimates indicated two passes
at 7 km/hr, two passes at 8 km/hr and two passes at 10 km/hr. If the job
efficiency is 0.80, how many grader hours will be required for this job?

𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 ∗𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 (𝐤𝐦) 𝟏

T𝐢𝐦𝐞(𝐡𝐫) = *
𝐀𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐤𝐦/𝐡𝐫) 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲

𝟔∗𝟐𝟓 𝟏
(𝟕∗𝟐+𝟖∗𝟐+𝟏𝟎∗𝟐) *
𝟔
𝟎.𝟖
22.5hr
Example
A Volvo G740B motor grader with a 3.2m blade is to be used to knock
down dirt on a 15m wide X 2250m long road base area. The effective
grading width is 2.77m. The average speed will be around 6km/hr. If the
number of passes required to reach the desired density of the earth is two,
answer the following questions.
a. What is the work hour productivity of the grader based on area
method, if the operator works 50 min per 60-min?
b. How long will it take to grade the road base?

Solution:

Assuming overlap width to =0.6m

a. probable hourly production= [S*(Le-Lo)*1000*E]/n
= [6km/hr*(2.77-0.6)*1000*0.83]/2
= 5403.3m2/hr
b. The total area of the road = 15m X 2250m= 3,3750m2
Time required = 33750m2*/5403.3m2/hr
= 6.25hr.
 Hauling and hoisting equipments
Hauling equipments
• In addition to the dozer and loader, hauling equipment includes trucks,
wagons, scrapers, conveyor belts, and trains.

Trucks and Wagons

• Trucks and wagons are the most common forms of construction hauling
equipment.
• The heavy – duty rear dump truck is most widely used because of its
flexibility of use and the ability of highway models to move rapidly
between job sites.
 Productivity of Haulers
The productivity of a hauler unit
can be computed by using

However, since hauling units

involve travel of excavated
materials; computing the travel
time is the most important step in
computing the productivity of the
hauler.
• Estimating Equipment Travel  Fixed time represents
Time.
Loading time,
• In calculating the time required
for a haul unit to make one Dumping time.
complete cycle, it is customary  Variable time represents
to break the cycle down into Travel time
fixed and variable components
Cycle time = Fixed time + Variable time
Thank you