Heavy machines are required in different large projects to make the job safer and easier. Road construction is a specialized area of construction that is highly technical, requiring various specialized equipment. Whether it’s building a new road, or rehabilitating an old road, using the right machine is important. Today, we’ll dive into this topic and discuss 9 common types of machines for road construction.
Asphalt Plant
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An asphalt plant is a plant designed to create asphalt concrete, also called blacktop, and other forms of coated roadstone applied in road construction. Asphalt concrete consists of several aggregates, sand, and a kind of filler, such as stone dust. Firstly, mix them in the correct proportions, and then heat them. At last, the mixture will be coated with a binder, usually bitumen based.
Truck Crane
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A truck crane is a frequently used machine for road construction, featuring compact and movable. A crane is mounted on the back of a heavy truck to do the lifting job on the road construction site. A truck crane consists of the lifting component and the carrier. A turntable joins the two together, enabling the lifting to move backward and forwards. As we mentioned before, since a truck crane is small, it requires very little mounting space.
Asphalt Pavers
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An asphalt paver, also known as a road paver finisher, asphalt finisher, or road paving machine, is designed to lay asphalt concrete on the surface of roads, bridges, parking lots, and other places. Besides, it can also do minor compaction before a roller starts working. The paving process starts with a dump truck moving the asphalt into the paver’s hopper. Then, the conveyor delivers the asphalt to the dispersion auger to distribute the asphalt to a heated screed. The screed flattens and spreads the asphalt across the road, creating an initially compact surface of the road. Moreover, after the basic compaction, a roller will be used for further compaction.
Cold Planers
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Cold planers, or milling machines, are a type of heavy equipment designed for milling the road surface. A cold planer utilizes a big rotating drum with many carbide-tipped road milling teeth on it to grind and remove the pavement. Those carbide cutters are held by tool holders that are placed around the rotating drum. As the drum rotates and cuts the pavement surface, the paved asphalt is delivered by a conveyor belt to another truck moving in front of the cold planer. When the holders and teeth wear out over time, they should be replaced.
There are several advantages of using a cold planer, including recycling asphalt, repairing existing damage, building rumble strips, etc.
Drum Rollers
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Drum rollers, also called road rollers or compact rollers, are important machines for road construction. They are designed to flatten and smooth road surfaces effectively in construction sites. There are several types of rollers, including pneumatic rollers, sheepsfoot rollers, smooth wheeled rollers, vibratory rollers, etc. Different rollers are used to compress different materials.
Excavators
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Excavators are one of the most well-known heavy machines for construction. You will find an excavator at almost any construction site as it is a very dispensable large machine for various projects. It is mainly used to dig or excavate rocks and earth and load them onto dumper trucks. An excavator consists of a cabin, a long arm, and a bucket. The bucket can be used to excavate, haul, demolish, remove brush, or dredge the river. Sometimes, an excavator can also be applied in the forestry industry with certain attachments. Excavators can be divided into three types by their sizes, including mini excavators, medium excavators, and large excavators.
Forklifts
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Forklifts, also named fork truck, is a type of construction equipment designed to move objects short distances at a construction site. Before using a forklift, make sure the volume of the objects is right for your forklift. There are several types of forklifts – counterweight, side loaders, pallet jack, and warehouse forklifts.
Motor Graders
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Motor graders, also known as road graders or maintainers, are another commonly used machine at worksites, especially at a road construction site. A motor grader is mainly designed to flatten surfaces. For projects requiring versatility, a motor grader is more suitable than a bulldozer. With a long horizontal cutting blade or cutting edge, a motor grader can cut and level the soil surface. Besides, motor graders are also suitable for snow removal. The carbide-tipped bits mounted on the cutting edge are replaceable.
Wheel Loaders
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As the name implies, a wheel loader is used to load or move materials onto dumper trucks at construction sites. Unlike a track loader, a wheel loader has durable wheels, making it more convenient to drive around at worksites. A wheel loader has a relatively short moving arm and a very large front-mounted bucket which is used to move materials such as dirt and rocks.
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