Monthly Archives: September 2016

How to build a lake with a dozer

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We all have this thought that dozers are meant for mowing down huge structures and ramming down anything and everything that comes in its way but hardly do we know that it can also be used for building a lake. Though the need of other heavy equipment cannot be ruled out but if the work of building a lake is assigned to a contractor and he does not have any other heavy equipment apart from a dozer, he can still get the work done through it. He does not have to start hunting for an excavator or something that specializes in excavating work. However, one also needs to understand that this will take long for the work to complete and also the need of an experienced operator plays quite a crucial role.

So when you are digging the ground with the intention to build a lake with a dozer, you should first check the kind of dozer you may need for the purpose. Just because you are building a lake does not mean you should be using big dozers. At times small dozers can do the trick which big dozers can’t and therefore selection of dozers in this case is of utmost importance.

The crux of the heavy equipment comes while working in different forms of land. Not every kind of heavy equipment can stand in a sloppy land. The operator might find it very difficult to balance the position of the machine. The dozers may be a slow one but they can provide power, stability and have good traction which is perhaps the most required feature for building lakes. In order to dig deep, you can make use of some special blades that are designed for the purpose of making a hole in the ground. Well, these blades have some 6 movements. They can move right, left, up, down and can tilt from right to left and vice-versa. This position is specifically used to dig deep in the ground. You can also make use of rippers to break down a hard piece of land or any rock that you hit in the earth.

Using a ripper makes more sense because it has the potential to tear apart hard materials like rock and can thus help the dozer to dig deep without much hassle.

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The beginners should be backed by the veterans

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You be a part of any industry and you need some guidance when you are new to that form of business. You seek guidance from the tenured guys who has been working for that company or have being a part of that industry for years and you believe that if at all you come across a problem, you have people to bail you out. You depend a lot on them. Simultaneously, it also becomes the responsibility of the experienced men to take the onus and give proper advice to the newbie so that they can steer away from any issues and learn to deal with problems. The need of such veterans is needed a lot when it comes to selling heavy equipment. Sales in itself is a difficult job and not many are able to find this to be their cup of tea and there are many who after striving for a while generally give it up.

Not quite good with product knowledge:-

One of the major problems that has been seen amongst the newbie is that they find it tough to understand heavy equipment and therefore when they approach a client, they are not confident enough to pitch in the product and subsequently unable to sell the stuff. They lack good product knowledge and are most of the time confused as to what they should learn from this vast topic. Heavy equipment is undoubtedly a vast topic with so much to understand and one can only grasp it completely with time. So, we can’t expect a newbie to learn everything just after he is done with his training. A veteran can step in here and advise him on the areas that he should concentrate. He may not have to learn everything but just few important things that are relevant to sales.

Not all days are good days:-

In the daily life of a salesperson, he has to go through a lot of ordeal. In order to make one sale, he probably has to work hard for the entire month and heavy equipment being an expensive item; it certainly takes time for a contractor to make the decision to buy the machine. On the other hand, he should also be ready to take up insults at times which can be very embarrassing. There are times when the client do not buy the stuff but is also not rude to you but such clients are few in numbers and you get mostly people who for some reason turn out to be a bit rude when they deal with sales guys. This needs to be addressed by the experienced lots and they can always comfort the beginners by saying that this is a part and parcel of the business and one has to go through this in order to grow.

Sales trick are important to be shared:-

Every form of business has a trick that helps to complete the job faster. The veteran salespersons should share those tricks with the new guys. Do some role play with them where they will act as client and the beginners will be salesperson? In this way they can sharpen the skills of the beginners and generate a new confidence in them.

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Acquire young talents at lower costs

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Irrespective of you having a big or a small construction company, it is very instrumental for you to acquire young guys to work with you. No matter if they are not experienced and do not know their job, all that matters is their determination to stick around with your company and learn the work. They are turn out to be great assets to your company if they are trained in the right fashion. All they need is somebody who can guide them and help them understand the thing they would be doing. You have to show them a bright career for them to focus on work. Construction industry is one such industry that has the potential to offer the youngsters the future that they are looking for. The only thing the industry wants from them is to learn things and try to become an expert. It does not take long for a person to learn few tricks of the trade of the industry if he/she has the appetite to learn.

Can offer jobs to thousands of people in a country:-

Construction industry is on such industry that can offer jobs to thousands even millions. It not only just provides them with a job but it also shapes their career in a way that they become disciplined and inclined to grow in life. Countries like Dubai and other middle-east countries are spending a fortune on numerous construction projects as they have the idea to turn the place into a tourist hub for which they need quality workers to complete the projects.

Thus, people who not mind moving to other countries can find this to be a fabulous option and can get the exposure of working in an alien environment. He/she may probably get to learn more than what he/she can do working in US. There he/she may get to work on heavy equipment that are highly advanced and not many companies in US are using them. This really means a lot to them and will carry a lot of weight to his/her resume if he/she ever decides to make his way back to his homeland and search for a similar job.

Company can save a lot by hiring fresh minds:-

Construction companies like any other companies have to pay more for experienced work force. If they try to keep a balance of experienced as well as fresh workmen, they will be shelling less money as pay package to the young lots. It is quite evident that the young lads/lady will not negotiate much when it comes to salary. However, that does not imply that you got the right to exploit them. You are bound to give them the standard package as per the norms of the industry. You will still be able to save a lot if you follow this process and the money you save doing this can be utilized for other developmental purposes.

By employing young people, you are not only providing jobs to the unemployed but also giving them a career that they can pursue for long.

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Veteran operators should act as role models to the newbie

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It is absolutely important for the tenured men to become role models for the new guys who would be taking over the work from them. You be a part of any industry but you need the experienced guys to teach you their work. You may have studied in the best of the institutions but having a hands-on knowledge is way too important than the bookish knowledge you have been imparted from your institution. Getting a degree from a college does not make you an expert. It is perhaps years of experience that comes into picture to become an expert in the field you are in. Therefore it is important to learn the tricks of the trade from a veteran of the industry who will impart you the knowledge which no institution can ever offer you.

Similarly, in the construction sector the work of an operator is considered to quite vital and when there are new recruits joining a construction company, it becomes the onus of the tenured operators to train them. They may have the technical knowledge but when it comes to practical training they will need your help. The new entrants coming straight from college aspiring to become ace operators have big dreams and it is your responsibility to give wings to their dreams. Help them in every possible manner you can. You become their teacher and apply every possible method to ensure that they do well on the jobsite.

Train them on understanding signals on jobsites:-

Comprehending signals is very crucial for an operator to perform in a construction site. He needs to read the signals well and understand what it means and accordingly move the machine. If he fails to understand it incorrectly, it may lead to a disaster. The veterans should ensure that the newbie learn to comprehend the signals and move the machine accordingly. Understanding the signals becomes all the more important in rugged terrain and bad weather conditions. Heavy equipment are required to work irrespective of the terrain and the operators are expected to work in that not so convenient condition. In such a situation, signals play a significant role for the operators to perform. The tenured operators should therefore offer their experience to the new guys and help them overcome any problem that they encounter on the ground.

Fix heavy equipment during breakdowns:-

Heavy equipment if breaks down during the course of work will result in no work on that day. This will lead to loss to the company. Heavy equipment usually give signs before completely breaking down and one can understand those signs only if they have worked on machines for years. The veterans can play a big role in understanding the state of the machine and can thus impart it to the recruits. When the machine is showing signs of breaking down, the veterans can point out the issue to the newbie and show how that can be fixed. In case if it requires involvement of an expert, the same should be explained to him.

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Renting construction equipment will turn out to be prolific in the long run

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Construction business has been continuously doing well for the last many years. Though it is haunted by certain ups and downs that can be said to be a part of any business, it has been a fruitful business for many who have managed to strive through the downs of the market. Similarly, there are many people who are becoming a part of this industry and are in constant hunt of quality heavy equipment. Since heavy equipment are high priced items, most contractors find it difficult to purchase it and therefore they depend heavily on companies that give them on rent. Now this particular need of heavy equipment has given rise to another business and that is renting construction equipment. So people who know about construction machines can also see a career in this business. As a matter of fact, many operators and mechanics have come together and have started this business through partnerships. They see huge potential in it and many of them are also doing well.

People who know about heavy equipment should get into it:-

Renting construction equipment business may not be for everybody. It is perhaps only for them who has sound knowledge about heavy equipment and has worked in the respective industry for quite a long time. People who have studied and worked on construction equipment will also understand the requirements of their client and in turn will be able to get the right stuff for them or give them the correct advice.

It may be risky for guys who have just completed their studies in heavy machineries and wanting to give it a shot. They may lack experience and this industry requires a lot of experience or there is a wider chance of losing clients. There are many people who are readying to take your clients and serve them. Also it is definitely not for folks who do not have absolutely any knowledge about heavy equipment. They may end up losing all their money that they have invested in the business.

Do not expect profits in the first few years:-

It will not be a wise thing to expect profits in the first few years of your business. Though there is every chance for you to incur profits but setting up expectation may not be the right way to take this further. Profits will happen once you gain momentum in your business and momentum comes only when you stick to your business for long. People start recognizing you for your work and more and more people will turn up to you to take construction machines on rent. You got to give them the time to know you. If there are other players, you have to prove that you are better than them and you can’t achieve that in a fortnight.

Be smart to beat competition:-

You will have a hard time beating your competitors. You got to be smarter than them. Outsmarting them is perhaps the only way out for you to make your mark in this industry. Come up with offers that sounds fresh and which might pull crowd to your shop.

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Having a good sales team can have a major impact on your construction business

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Sales constitute a major role towards the making of any company. If you have a good sales team that believes in the product you make, then your company may probably not see many bad days irrespective of any phase of the market. Sales play a dominant role in any sector as you got to sell things that you have produced and you got to do it real quick. Products staying with you for long is a not a good sign of development. You need to sell it fast in a market where others are able to sell things at a steady pace. Having a sales team that is experienced enough to sell apartments (if you are into construction of apartments) is a huge plus point. No doubt that you have to pay them handsomely but you should be pleased to do so if you have a team that delivers.

Many construction companies find it immensely difficult to sell apartments in a sluggish market condition. However, there are few companies that are clearing their stock despite of the poor market condition. Industry experts reckon that the sales team you have has a major role to play in getting the stocks cleared. It is also very important to set up some standard for the sales team to follow. A salesman can go to any level to sell a product. He may even misguide his customer leading to several complications in future. It is therefore very crucial that you set up some standards for the sales team and ensure that they all carry out their responsibilities within the framework.

The sales team should believe in your product:-

Be it selling heavy equipments or residential apartments, the sales team should believe that the stuff they are selling is one of the best in the industry. That does not mean that they should start believing that whatever they are selling does not have any drawbacks. If a customer highlights a drawback, they should be in a position to take the feedback positively and if possible can counter it with logical reasoning. If he does not have anything to say then just take the feedback and move that up to the higher level.

A good salesman will never have unwanted debates:-

Having any kind of debate with the customer can lead to a no-sell. On top of that, it may even irk the customer and he may pass it on to others. This will only make things more difficult. Construction business runs mostly on goodwill and if that is tarnished it is rather very difficult to regain what you have lost. Customers may usually have issues with the amenities provided in an apartment. A sales guy can handle the situation by having a word with his supervisor if anything can be done with the amenities part and convey the same to the customer. The customer will be content with the fact that you have at least tried to work things out for him.

A sound business strategy is the need of the day in the construction business

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We all get so fascinated by hearing stories of people who have successfully carved a career out of their business and dream to follow them, to become someone like them. There is definitely no problem to think like that but it is important to think what they did so different than others that they are so successful in life and what price did they pay and are we willing to pay the price if we too take up the challenge. If someone is dreaming to make a career in the construction industry, then he needs to prepare himself right from the day he has begun to dream and start making plans to achieve his dreams.

Having a sound business strategy is considered to be one of the most important component for becoming a successful businessman. Now, a business strategy is required in any sort of business regardless how big or small it is. However, if one is chalking out plans pertaining to his construction business, he got to be make sure he comes out with a real good plan. Following are few pointers that will stress on how one can set up a sound business strategy.

Strategize your plans based on the business requirement:-

Strategies are often made keeping into consideration your business requirements. For instance, you are planning to buy some heavy equipments. Here you will consider the price of the machines, the utility factor, the features it possess and most importantly does the project really require any enhancements as far as the equipments are concerned. If you find positive answers for it, you should go ahead with your strategy or else it is better that you continue with the existing heavy equipments.

Take opinions of experienced people:-

If you are running a small business, you should far importantly take opinions of experienced people before you start planning up something. If possible share your plan with someone whom you can trust. People who are experienced in the construction segment will give you suggestions that will help you a long way.

A good strategy is the result of good team work:-

In case, you have a big business where you are required to big decision that will have a lasting effect, you should involve people who hold the top positions of various departments. You put to them your vision and ask them to come out with some plans. Ask them to think about the opportunities and threats involved. Once they give you a detailed report, you can absorb them all in your plan. You have the big picture in front of you. You only need to give it a proper shape. Once you come up with a final plan, place it in front of the senior most people in the company and see how good it sounds to them.

Keep your strategy flexible:-

The strategy you have adopted should be flexible and not stringent. When things may not go the way you have estimated them to, you may have to change them. Your strategy should allow you the space to make changes.

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Give importance to the safety of workers – They really worth it

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Safety is considered to be an important factor in any aspect of one’s life and when it is concerned with the construction business, safety of workers becomes all the more important. It has been seen that people pay lot of importance to the heavy equipment they possess, they take good care of their finances to ensure that the money is utilized in the most optimum manner, they give a lot of emphasis to their clients to ensure a continued healthy relationship but what they fail to prioritize is how safe they can make the working environment for their workers. Time and again we get to hear news of accidents happening in a construction site and a worker either ends up losing his life or getting grievously injured in the mishap. There could be two possible reasons why accidents are so prone in a construction site and what can be done to lessen it if it can’t be eliminated completely.

Safety measures not followed by the construction company:-

Many construction houses usually shy away from inducting appliances that can change the face of the existing safety issues of the workers. They simply do not have the money to invest it in introducing safety measures or they are least bothered about their safety and well-being. Well, this kind of approach of the employers should definitely change as there are several laws present in the country that talks about strict penalty if the companies are found not incorporating safety measures for the workers. Construction companies in order to maintain their good reputation should not fall into any legal trouble especially if it is pertaining to the safety of the workers. Other than that, they also have to compensate the worker if at all he becomes a victim to any possible mishap. The amount of compensation is huge and the company should think about modernizing its infrastructure that can reduce the instances of accidents rather than spending the money in paying compensations.

Safety measures not followed by workers:-

People working in a construction site are often habituated working in perilous environments and do not have the practice to wear any safety appliances while at work. Therefore, it becomes the onus of the company to prepare stringent safety parameters which should be followed by all working in a construction site. It should not be only limited to workers but also to people inspecting the work. All have to follow the safety guidelines while they are inside the premises. If possible, companies can appoint a person whose work will be to check if the workers are following necessary safety guidelines and when are into doing some perilous work, are they on with their safety equipment. If at all he finds anybody without his safety gears, he has every right to ask him to wear the stuffs before he gets to work.

Sufficient training should be given to workers:-

It is the responsibility of the company to educate its workers of the safety guidelines and explain them why it is important to wear the safety gears. If the workers understand the importance of the gears, they will not be reluctant to wear them.

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Know all about soil density and moisture and understand the need of compaction!

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Construction is a huge industry and to complete a construction project, a number of factors have to be completed. Amongst them, soil compaction is one of the most important one. Before soil compaction is conducted, why it is done and how it is done, must be understood.

About soil compaction:

Soil compaction is a mechanical process in which weight is applied to the soil to increase its density. Soil usually contains air and water particles. Thus, when weight is applied on it, the air gaps are removed or reduced. Therefore, the soil becomes compacted and denser. The process only removes the air and does not have any significant impact on the water particles.

Importance of soil compaction:

The soil compaction technique is a mechanical one and it is very important in the construction field. In order to make a site suitable for construction, the site needs to be turned into a flat base. The flat construction base is mandatory for various construction requirements such as –

  • Buildings
  • Roads
  • Pavements.

With this compaction process, the soil becomes denser and thus, it gains more stability. The resistance power of the soil is also increased.

What happens without soil compaction?

If the soil is not compacted, there is always a chance that after the construction is complete, moisture will be absorbed and penetrated within the soil particles. Thus, the soil and the construction will start to encounter movement, resulting in damage and failure of the construction. Without proper and quality soil compaction –

  • Building walls may experience cracks and they might even fall down
  • As the roads and pavements start to encounter movement, the pipes beneath these construction sites will encounter holes, cracks and leaks.
  • Entire construction may collapse.

Types of soil compaction equipment:

Though a mechanical process, the technique of compaction differs, depending on the type of soil. There are two types of soils, cohesive and non-cohesive and both require different compaction methods. In order to yield proper compaction, right heavy construction equipment must be chosen. There are a number of soil compaction equipment types. The most popular ones are –

  • Smooth wheeled rollers
  • Sheepsfoot rollers
  • Grid rollers
  • Pneumatic tyred rollers
  • Trench tamper or power rammer
  • Vibrating plates.

The right soil density:

Whether the right soil density and moisture level is achieved or not is a factor that must be taken into consideration. For that a number of lab tests are done for the soil. These are proctor test, field test, sand cone test, soil modulus test and nuclear density test. All these tests can determine, whether the right soil density is achieved or not. These tests can also determine the impact of moisture on the soil density. Optimum moisture level can be identified with these tests through a moisture density curve.

If you want to compact the soil for a construction purpose, you must understand these factors in details and then choose the right equipment for compaction. This will ensure that the construction is done properly, with no worries of soil movement and moisture penetration.

Role of a site engineer in a construction jobsite

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Every department in the construction jobsite has their own importance and non-performance of any of the departments can have a drastic impact in the overall functioning of the work. Right from the laborers to the project manager, everybody has a role to play and if the coordination amongst the departments is in order, work can be completed real soon. There is also a need to check the progress of the work and if things are moving as per the plan laid down. The job to monitor the performance of different departments and liaise to their needs is done by a site engineer. His role is not limited to just checking the performance of the several departments working in tandem with each other but have to take care of lot other responsibilities.

At times the work of a site engineer becomes hectic than anybody on the entire jobsite and he also becomes liable to answer his superiors in case if things go awry on the site. He is expected to have complete control on the activities of all the departments. For instance, if the operator working on heavy equipment reports an issue that requires the attention of a mechanic, it becomes the onus of the site engineer to ensure that the mechanic walks up to the jobsite and get the machine fixed. In case if it is not done or he misses calling the mechanic, he is taken to task.

Reading and comprehending the plans and designs:-

The layout of the plan is usually prepared by the team of project engineers. The site engineer can also be a part of the team where things are discussed and everyone in the team is aware of how to execute the plan. The site engineer has the capability to read and understand the diagrams and designs and the responsibility of getting the work done falls completely on his shoulder. Apart from the project engineer and the site engineer, there is perhaps none who has the ability to understand the plan layout and this is why the role of the site engineer is quite crucial. The project engineer work is limited to just chalking out the design and make necessary changes to it whenever required but he does not go out to communicate this to the other departments. This work is done by the site engineer.

Checking the supplies are in order:-

For construction work to move smoothly, it is important to keep a tab on the availability of supplies. You will never know when you are out of stock and therefore keeping the count of your stock is very crucial. The laborers are ideally engaged with utilizing the resources/stocks that is available. They might inform the site engineer about it or may skip that completely. But if the supplies get exhausted and the workers do not have raw materials to work, the site engineer becomes answerable. He has to ensure that the raw materials and other supplies are in place. Also if raw materials have been ordered and are in transit, he needs to check how soon it will reach the jobsite.

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