Construction of roads, paths, sidewalks or other types of communication routes requires the use of appropriate machinery, heavy equipment and tools. Currently, this construction process uses innovative technological solutions that allow the investment to be completed even faster while meeting strict quality requirements. In today's article, we will present modern construction machines, the desirability of their use, operating characteristics and key technical parameters taken into account when using the machine to implement a specific investment size.
CONSTRUCTION MACHINES - WHAT CAN WE FIND ON THE MARKET?
Construction companies have quite a wide range of purchasing options. The multitude of different types of solutions makes it easy to choose the right type of equipment. What exactly can we name construction machines? First of all, they will be all kinds of crawler excavators, backhoe loaders, mini excavators, jaw crushers, basket lifts, bulldozers, rollers, sorters, asphalt pavers, self-propelled sweepers, road painters and sprinklers. On the other hand, in the case of smaller-scale road investments, various types of compactors are used. Check what makes individual construction machines stand out and what tasks they are most often used for.
EARTHMOVING MACHINES - DEFINITION
The task of earthmoving machines is to excavate various types of soil by detaching, removing, loading, moving, backfilling and compacting them. Earthmoving machinery itself can be divided in many ways. If we look at their application and the method of mining, we can divide them into machines for breaking and removing the spoil, loading and removing the spoil, breaking and shifting the spoil, and compacting. Another and easily visible division concerns the type of chassis on which the machine is mounted. Here we can distinguish tracked, wheeled, rail, walking and pontoon machines.
ROAD ROLLERS
Rollers are mainly used for compacting surface masses or soil in earthworks. The main factor determining the usefulness of a given cylinder model is its weight. The largest machines of this type can act on the ground even at a depth of several meters. Road rollers can be divided according to their surface application into single-drum rollers, pneumatic rollers or asphalt rollers. Another known division of the rolls is determined by the way they act on the substrate. In this respect, there are 3 groups of rollers: static, impact and vibrating. Yet another division of cylinders is the one that takes into account their construction. Here we can distinguish single-shaft rollers, trench rollers and tandem rollers.
The prices of road rollers vary depending on the construction, specific purpose, weight and degree of wear and tear (in the case of second-hand machines). Most often, however, the cost of an average roller is tens of thousands of zlotys.
EXCAVATORS
The task of the excavator is primarily to separate the excavated material from the ground and transfer a temporary storage site or a means of transport intended for this purpose, e.g. a tipper. Importantly, excavators can also be used as reloading equipment. The main division of excavators is like their work - intermittent or continuous.
The first group includes single-bucket excavators. Between the successive stages of the cutting vessel's operation, it is necessary to perform additional auxiliary activities, such as emptying the bucket or transferring the material. Excavators that work continuously are called multi-bucket excavators. They consist of many buckets connected by a closed chain or circle. Hence the division of bucket excavators into a chain and wheeled excavators.
Excavators can also be classified depending on the work tool. Here we can distinguish backhoe excavators (digging is possible above and below its location), backhoe, grab (for cavernous excavations) and grab excavators (the scraper loosens the soil by dragging it along the ground).
The purchase prices of excavators are similar to the prices of road rollers and may range from several dozen to even several hundred thousand zlotys (depending on the condition of the machine). The company has to pay up to half a million zlotys for new caterpillar models.
LOADERS
It is heavy equipment that is used to transport and load the excavated material over short distances. Machines of this type can also be used for loosening non-frozen soil and reloading stone blocks.
Contrary to the excavators discussed above, the loading of the excavated material onto the loader bucket takes place using the driving mechanism. Due to the construction of the machine, loaders are divided into tracked and wheel (including articulated and non-articulated). Chargers can also be divided due to the way they work. Then we distinguish models with front, rotary, with a bucket tilting to the side and with overhead discharge (used, for example, in mines). The prices of bucket loaders start from several dozen thousand zlotys in the case of small used ones. New chargers usually cost from PLN 50,000. PLN. The so-called mini loaders, the prices of which usually do not exceed 30 thousand. PLN (new machines).
GRADERS
These machines arouse admiration and a lot of interest among users uninitiated in the world of construction machines. Their appearance resembles a bulldozer with an additional, single-axle bogie at the front. Graders are mainly used for profiling the ground for the construction of roads, airports or roadsides. They are also used for levelling embankments and mixing road materials in the stabilization process.
There is also some kind of division among graders. Due to the very structure of the machine, we divide them into self-propelled (including two-axle and three-axle) and trailed ones, also used in agriculture. Graders can be equipped with a different steering mechanism and here we can distinguish machines with only a front axle, front and rear axle, and those with an articulated frame and a front axle. The prices of graders most often range from several dozen to even several hundred thousand zlotys, depending on the specific model of the machine and its wear state.
COMPACTORS
These types of construction machines are used to compact the ground, e.g. for the construction of a road, bicycle path, driveway or paving stones. The purpose of the compaction process is to remove water and air particles from the ground using intense vibration. As a consequence of this action, the ground becomes more compact. Compactors can be divided into rammers, single direction vibratory plates and reversible vibratory plates. When choosing a specific model of a compactor, its weight is of great importance, because the more pressure it exerts on the ground, the more effectively it can compact it.
Generally, the choice of this type of machine is quite large. Small rammers are ideal for works in narrow spaces and are easy to manoeuvre. Their cost starts from a few thousand zlotys, and the weight usually does not exceed 100 kg. The slightly larger equipment includes uni-directional compactors, which already have a larger working plate and can weigh up to 180 kg. The heaviest compactors are two-way models, which are bulkier and weigh more than 1 ton. Unfortunately, they cost correspondingly more. Most often, from several dozen to even one hundred thousand zlotys (in the case of renowned brands, such as Husqvarna or Wacker Neuson).
