Construction Equipment for Different Purposes
A host of equipment are used in the construction industry both for small and large purposes. This is because they increase the rate of output, reduce overall construction cost, accelerate the planned rate of production where there is shortage of skilled and unskilled labour and eliminate heavy manual work by humans, thereby, reducing fatigue and various other hazards and health issues.
Depending on the application, Construction Equipment (CE) are classified into various categories, which include earth-moving equipment, earth-compacting equipment, hauling equipment, hoisting equipment, conveying equipment, aggregate production equipment, equipment using in concrete construction and pile-driving equipment. Each of the categories has a list of equipment employed for different purposes.
Types of CE for different purposes
• Earth-moving equipment: They are also called as heavy equipment or heavy-duty vehicles designed especially for executing construction operation that involves earthwork operation i.e., moving large amounts of earth or to dig foundations and landscape areas. On the basis of operation performed by the various machines in the segment, the earth moving equipment market can be bifurcated into excavators (compact excavator, dredging, dragline excavator, front shovel and others), loaders (skip loader, wheel loader, front loader, backhoe loader etc.), construction tractors and others (grader, scraper, track loader, material handler etc.).
• Earth-compacting equipment: For compacting materials such as soil in order to increase its density for construction, the earth-compacting equipment are used. In addition, compactors are utilised in landfill tasks. Common varieties include plate tampers (also known as rammers), vibratory plates compactors (also known as tamping foot rollers) and vibratory pad foot compactors.
• Hauling equipment: The equipment used for transportation of material at the construction site are known as hauling equipment or simply haulers. Not only this, hauling equipment are used for carriage and disposal of excavated earth and haulage of heavy construction equipment. There are many types of hauling equipment which include dump trucks (standard dump truck, transfer dump truck, semi-trailer end dump truck, semi-trailer bottom dump truck, double and triple trailer, side dump trucks and off-road dump trucks), tippers, trailers etc.
• Hoisting equipment: For lifting the loads, holding them in suspension during transfer from one place to other and placing them at designated location, hoisting equipment are used. Big projects such as construction of dams, industrial building etc., definitely require hoisting equipment to perform the task of lifting the loads. This category includes equipment like forklifts, hoists and cranes which in turn are of many types.
• Conveying equipment: Used for applications involving the transportation of heavy or bulky materials from one place to another over a stationery structure, conveying equipment ease the work at any construction site to a very large extent. They are mainly used in mining and construction activities. In construction industry, conveyors are mainly used for concreting purposes.
Thus, the CE sector is very diverse and wide with a list of CE in every segment.
Future trends for CE sector
Each year, the demand for all the CE is increasing at a rapid pace. This is because high construction and infrastructural growth, technological developments and their adaptations and rapid urbanisation is fuelling the growth of CE industry in the country. In future, due to construction of highways, railways, bridges, ports, residential and commercial buildings, the CE industry is expected to see huge growth.
