Chapter 1.

Introduction to earthwork
Associate Prof. Dr. Luong Duc Long- BACH
KHOA UNIVERSITY
Source: - Prof. S. W. NUNNALLY- Book
“Construction
Methods and Management”
- Dr. Khaled Hyari- “Lecture Notes”
- Ass Prof. Lan D.T.X “Lecture Notes”
- Dr.Ibrahim Assakkaf- “Lecture Notes”

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Earthmoving Materials and Operations
• Earthmoving is the process of moving soil or
rock from one location to another and
processing it so that it meets construction
requirements of location, elevation, density,
moisture, and so on.

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Number of factors for selecting equipments
• The most important criterion is the ability of equipment to
perform the required work .
• The principal criterion for selection should be maximizing
the profit or return on the investment produced by the
equipment (usually, when the lowest cost per unit is
achieved).
• Others:
- Possible future use
- Its availability
- The availability of part and service
- The effect of equipment downtime on other construction
equipment and operations

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 Planning and controlling for
equipment usage
• After the equipment has been selected for a
project, a plan (such as assignment for
equipment, schedule of usage, plan for
maintenance, risk plan…) must be developed
to efficiently utilize the equipment.
• The final phase of the process is competent
job management to assure compliance with
the operating plan and to make adjustments
for unexpected conditions.

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• The basic relationship for estimating of all
earthmoving equipment is:
Production= Volume per cycle * Cycles per hour (*)

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• The term “volume per cycle”= the average
volume of material moved per equipment cycle.
Thus the nominal capacity of the excavator or
haul unit must be modified by an appropriate fill
factor based on the type of material and
equipment involved.
• The term “cycle per hour” must include any
appropriate efficiency factors, so that it
represents the number of cycles actually
achieved per hour. (see Table 2-1)

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• Soil and rock are the materials that make up
the crust of the earth.

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“Drainage, stabilization of haul routes, or the use of
low-ground pressure construction equipment may be
required when poor trafficability conditions exist”
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 The type–soil interaction
• The type–soil interaction determines the mobility of
the vehicle and then characterizes its dynamics. The
interactions depends on vehicle type, its properties,
motion conditions (speed, number of passes, turning
needs ect.), soil properties, relief, land use and
climatic conditions.
• Dry or frozen soil can support vehicle operations as
good as roads. However, conditions can change
drastically during wet conditions, rain and snow
events (soil properties change in time).

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Sorting of soils into groups each of which would show
similar behavior is the objective of soil classification.
Any soil classification system must provide us with
information about the probable engineering behavior
of soil.

- Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)

-American Association of State Highway and Transport
Officials (AASHTO) System
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 Soil Classification by Unified System

• Soil that have less than 50% by weight passing the No 200 sieve by weight
are further classified as coarse-grained soils, whereas soils that have more
than 50% by weight passing the No 200 sieve are fine-grained soils.
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• The US Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) requires the classification
of soil to protect workers from injury when
working in excavations and trenches. OSHA
uses 3 soil classification plus one for rock, based
primarily on strength but also:

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 The soil is fissured

There are sources of vibration near the excavation

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 Soil type A, B, C by OSHA

Type C is the least stable type of soil

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Unconfined compressive strength: Pressure required for
soil to fail under compression 37
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