Working in a construction site requires a certain level of knowledge on the equipment used on site from a crane to bulldozers, hoists and lifts, and excavators. The construction industry is considered one of the most dangerous industries due to the number of accidents in this line of work. Understanding how each construction equipment works can help make the site a safer place.
Different Types of Equipment: Bulldozers, Hoists and Lifts, and More
Each heavy construction equipment has different purposes on the site. Choosing the right heavy equipment involves understanding the size of the work and the economy of the project.
To maintain workplace safety on a construction site, you must use each piece of equipment for the purpose they are designed to do. For instance, you should not use a crane to do the jobs meant for hoists and lifts or other equipment.
Here are the different types of heavy construction equipment:
Excavators
This construction equipment, as the name suggests, is designed for excavating, digging, or shoveling. Excavators are made up of a long arm and a cabinet. The cabin is rotatable up to 360 degrees to help ease the operation.
Backhoe
True to its name, this type of construction equipment has its hoe at the backside of the vehicle while the loading bucket is placed in the front. This construction equipment is used for excavating– but unlike a regular excavator, a backhoe is used for digging trenches below the machine level.
Bulldozers
Bulldozers are used for removing the topsoil layer up to a certain depth. This equipment has a sharp-edged wide metal plate at its front which you can lower or raise depending on the depth you need. Bulldozers are mainly used for the removal of weak soil or rock strata, lifting of soil, etc.
Graders
This type of equipment is used for the construction of roads since it is mainly for leveling the soil surface. It has a horizontal blade in between its front and rear wheels. This blade lowered to the ground while working.
Wheel Tractor Scraper
This type of tractor is a piece of earth-moving equipment used to flatten soil surface through scrapping. A wheel tractor scraper consists of the wheeled tractor vehicle, a horizontal front blade, a conveyor belt, and a soil collecting hopper.
Trenchers
Trenchers are also called trenching machines. This construction equipment is mainly used for pipeline laying, cable laying, drainage purposes, etc.
Loaders
As the name suggests, this equipment is used to load materials into vehicles like dumpers and trucks. It can be used for excavated soil, demolition waste, raw materials, etc.
Tower Cranes
This construction equipment is designed for hoisting purposes. But keep in mind that it is designed for a different kind of hoisting than hoists and lifts. Cranes are used for heavy materials like pre-stressed concrete blocks, steel trusses, frames, etc.
Paver
A paver is used for road construction as a piece of laying equipment. It has a feeding bucket wherein asphalt is continuously loaded by the dump truck. This construction equipment distributes the asphalt evenly on the road surface with compaction.
Hoist
This construction equipment is used for lifting or lowering a load using a drum or lift-wheel. Chain, fiber, or wire may be used as its lifting medium. A hoist can be manually operated electrically or pneumatically.
The most common form of a hoist is an elevator-like setup in which the car is raised and lowered by a hoist mechanism.
Lift
A construction lift or an aerial lift works like a motorized forklift helps construction workers reach high places for projects.
This construction equipment consists of a motorized vehicle with tires and a work platform that can be raised and lowered as needed.
Bottomline
Working efficiently in a construction site is necessary to keep the workplace safe. Part of working efficiently means understanding the different kinds of equipment in construction and their specific uses.
Although some equipment sound like they have similar purposes, like hoists and lifts, and cranes or excavators, and backhoes– they are all designed for a specific purpose. Using them for a different task can lead to an accident since they are not fully built for said task.
Although just using the equipment available to you sounds like a good way to save some money on a project, it can cost more due to damages. You have the option to work with a hoist rental service provider for your constructions hoists and lifts need instead of trying to be resourceful at the cost of safety.