Tag Archives: road rollers

Road construction machines

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For the development of the economy of any country, good well maintained roads play quite a vital role. If you have good roads it becomes easy to transport goods from one place to another. Right from agricultural sector to manufacturing industry, all of them highly depend on good constructed roads. One can easily understand how important it is to ferry agricultural products to the main market from where it gets further distributed to the wholesaler and then finally to the retailer. Similarly, raw materials are transported day in and day out so that the manufacturing and other industries can function without any hindrance. It becomes very important to ensure that the roads are well maintained and whatever heavy equipment are required to keep the quality of the roads in place are done without any compromise. Unlike in a construction sector, only few sets of heavy equipment are needed to construct roads and also to maintain them.

As far as the road construction work goes, usage of heavy equipment depends on the kind of work that is needed to be done. It ideally varies from constructing a new road or just working on few repairs on the existing one.

Motor grader:-

Before placing asphalt on the road, it is important to flatten the surface. This can be done with the help of a motor grader. The ones that are used to flatten the surface have 3 axles with the cab on the top of the rear axle and the third axle is located at the very front of the machine. It also has a very long blade in the center of the axles.

Road roller machine:-

A road roller is a common type of heavy equipment that one will find in a road construction area. It is used to press the layer of asphalt that has been laid on the ground. Ideally, 2 to 3 layers of asphalt are laid and thereafter the roller machine is rolled on the road and presses the asphalt to make the road smooth. There are several types of rollers that one can find on road construction projects. The type of rollers is often selected keeping into consideration the kind of road being constructed. There are rubber tire rollers or double drum asphalt rollers or rollers that are combination of both of the rollers. As stated, the kind of construction of roads actually suggests the type of rollers to be used for the project.

Excavator:-

Excavators are machines that are used to dig earth and rocks. They are used in road construction projects where there is a need to excavate a portion of land that will help to bring the road to a level. They are also used to break an uneven structure with the help of the boom or the bucket and collect all the dirt and load it on the dump truck.

Wheel Loader:-

A wheel loader is considered to be vital heavy equipment when it comes to construction of roads. It is used to gather all the dirt from the earth and dump it on a dump truck. Due to the big size of the bucket, it can pile up loads of dirt and dump it at a given point of time.

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.