Role of heavy construction machinery

Today almost all construction projects involves laborious work which is to be

handled by men (workers). But it is quite difficult for the workers to perform all the
work at a project site like digging a double story basement or something like this is
very much difficult task for a men now here comes the need of machinery
particularly construction machinery
Construction machinery like Cranes, Shovel, Backhoe, Bulldozer and Dragline etc plays an important role
in a construction project and it is common fact that we come across a large variety of construction
equipment on every construction site and these equipment makes the construction job very much easy for
example taking the reinforce steel bars to the 10 th floor of the building or so is almost impossible for men
but machines can perform this task very easily similarly it also makes the job much safer and quicker as
Construction equipment are used to build such structures which play a vital role in our social as well as
business life. Development of economy depend on the stability and quality of these construction
equipments. Civil building structures such as roads, commercial complexes, and corporate offices, which
fuel the economy, are built using such equipment. Civil building construction also includes structures
ranging from roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, etc. to multi storey shopping complexes, parking lots, to
train station, even Olympic stadiums. These structures make our life possible, without them we would not
get drinking water, transportation, entertainment and commercial activity would be difficult.
It is therefore, very important to use high quality equipment in the construction
process, to design and build such structures with stability and for long life of these
buildings and structures

Advantages of utilizing the construction equipments:

Increase the rate of output through work progress with the best effective and efficient
methods.
Reduce the overall construction costs especially for large contracts.

Carry out activities which cannot be done manually or to do them more economically
and much faster.

Eliminate the heavy manual work by human thus reducing fatigue

various other hazards and health issues.

and

eliminates

Maintain the planned rate of production where there is a shortage of skilled or unskilled
labor.

Maintain the high quality standards often required by present-day design and specifications
(technical standards).

Introduction and general overview of the global

construction equipment market
Heavy construction equipment is a critical tool for any construction project. They are used extensively at construction
sites to reduce labor cost and time. The high construction and infrastructural growth, technological developments and
their adaptations, and rapid urbanization have fueled the growth for heavy construction equipment. Infrastructure is
the largest end-use area for heavy construction equipment especially in emerging markets such as China, Brazil, and
India.
The global heavy construction equipment market is witnessing decent growth based on heavy investments done in
the infrastructure recreation to accommodate smart residential and commercial buildings. The developing markets in
Asia-Pacific are witnessing a strong demand for heavy construction equipment; therefore, large investments are
made in these regions.

FACTORS FOR SLOW GROWTH OF CONSTRUCTION

MACHINERY MARKET IN PAKISTAN UPTO NOW
Few factors for slow growth of heavy construction market
in pakistan
1. Economic factor
The economic considerations such as owning costs operating labour costs
and operating fuel costs of equipment are too much high , owning cost and
operating fuel cost of the equipment are too high due the high tax on the
import goods while the labour cost here in Pakistan is comparatively very low
(about 3 dollars per worker per day) that is why heavy construction
machinery doesnt have much scope here

2. Labor consideration
Shortage of manpower in some situations may lead to a decision in favour of
procuring equipment that is highly automated but in Pakistan there is no
shortage of manpower in fact we are in the list of countries with the lowest
labor cost. Further, the selection of equipment may be governed by the
availability of the of trained manpower but Pakistan fails this criteria
although we have rich manpower but they are not technically trained so that
could be a reason why we have less scope of heavy construction machinery
in our country

But today the scenario is different Pakistan is now in the list of countries with
fast growing economy and in the list of countries with fast growing
infrastructural development (motorways, bridges, multistory shopping and
residential complexes are building and after the pak china economic corridor
project the need of heavy constructional equipment is increased here is the
general assessment of the today and future market of constructional
machinery in pakistan

Boosting Market Need of construction equipment in

Pakistan (assessment)
Construction machinery is vital for accelerating development programs in almost all sectors of the
economy. Besides the construction industry, these machines (crawler tractors or bulldozers) are needed
for land leveling, land reclamation, agriculture sector, construction of highways, dams, barrages, canals,
rural works programs, etc. These machines are almost entirely imported from diversified sources. The
present population of these machines in Pakistan is estimated at around 3000. The most popular makes
are Caterpillar and International Harvesters (USA), Fiat-Allis (Italy) and Komatsu (Japan).

The import figures in FBS publications are not reliable as they do not reflect the true demand of
bulldozers / crawler tractors as these machines have been mixed up under the heading of tractors, where
agricultural wheel type tractors are also recorded. However, from the FBS data it is observed that Pakistan
is importing about 100 machines per year on the average at a total foreign exchange expenditure of
approximately Rs. 300 million (Wikipedia) . This does not include the cost of spares which is estimated at
30% of the machines cost per year. The import figure, therefore, does not reflect actual demand which is
in fact suppressed - not even meeting replacement demand. It is expected that with the local production of
construction machinery at a competitive price, the demand is likely to be doubled or trebled with a
healthy consequential effect on development in all economic sectors of Pakistan such as construction,
agriculture, highway and road building, land reclamation, dams and canals etc.

In any case, since a large amount of public money has already been either ear-marked or disbursed for
highways, irrigation works, small and medium size dams where work is either already underway or is
expected to start soon such as on 3 or 4 mega dams and hydro power projects, the need for construction
equipment and machinery is bound to only increase. The real estate sector is already booming in the
Country. This activity will create further demand for heavy construction machinery.

What is bulldozer
Machines designed preliminary for cutting & pushing material relatively
short distance.
Consist of a tractor with a front mounted blade controlled by hydraulic
cylinders use for different cut for different depth & leveling as per
condition of land.

Purpose of bulldozer use Clear site of work

Leveling of land
Prepare roads on hilly areas as well as hard ground
Excavate the material and haul in between 100 meters distance.
Spreading earth
Backfilling trenches
Maintaining haul roads

Function of bulldozer
Bulldozers are very powerful tracked vehicles. In construction sites, the tracks in bulldozers give
them great ground mobility and they can hold through very rough surface or terrain. These tracks
help to distribute the weight over large areas, and hence prevent the dozer from sinking into
muddy or sandy ground.
They are designed in such a way that they have high torque capacity, which give them immense
power to drag objects. Besides pushing heavy objects, these heavy machines can also remove
things from the ground.
In construction sites, bull dozers are used to clear shrubbery, obstacles, and remains of buildings
and structures.

 The basic advantage of bull dozer is that varied attachments can be applied to the equipment.
Depending on the applications and tasks, you can choose the attachment. Like for instance, there
is a different attachment used for construction activities and even when agricultural work is done.
The attachments are very helpful in providing flexibility to the bull dozer to perform in different
types of working area.
A ripper is a popular attachment used in a bulldozes, especially the large bulldozers. The ripper is
widely seen in construction sites, quarrying and mining sites. It is used to rip and break down the
surface of the rock into small pieces so that it is easy to handle. These broken pieces can further
be used for construction purposes.
Similarly, using a ripper, hard soil can be ripped and broken so as to permit planting in orchards
wherein trees cannot grow.

Disadvantages of crawler type dozer

Provide lower travel speed .
Eliminates the necessity of hauling equipment required to transport the dozer to the job.
Less output, especially when considerable travel is necessary.

fatigue to operator

It is not good for long distance.

It cannot travel on paved highways without damaging the surface.

Advantages of crawler type dozer

It delivers greater attractive effort especially when operating soft grounds as loose or muddy soil.
It have the Capacity to travel over muddy surface.
It Can Work on different type of soil.

 It have the Ability to travel on rough surface, which may reduce the cost of maintaining the
hauling roads

Design and working mechanism of dozer

Dozers are machines designed principally for cutting and pushing the materials over relatively short
distance. Dozers are nothing but crawler tractors or track type tractor with suitable hydraulically assisted
blades, arms which is principle difference between a crawler tractor and Dozers. Main areas of
application of dozers generally includes in dam construction, road construction in mines, to excavate the
soil etc.
a) Bull dozers Bull-dozer is basically pushing unit but is widely used as multi-purpose equipment and can
perform large no. of operation with minor change under different names like Angle dozer, tilt dozer, tree
dozer and push dozer. Bull-dozer scrapes soil and granular materials, pushes it in front of blades also
leveling the excavated material.
Construction:

Dozer Blades: A heavy blade of slightly concave profile in the front of the tractor, connected to frame of
tractor through two arms and a yoke. The blade has replacable cutting edges which wear out with the use
of Blade. The motion of blades is controlled by means of a suitable hydraulic cylinder arrangement.
Following are the few types of blades which generally used in dozers.
a U - blade
d) Angle Blade

b) Straight Blade
e) Clearing Blade

c) Land Fill Blade

f) V- blade.

Method of controlling the blades of dozers: Blades of dozers can be controlled by two ways
a) Cable control

b) Hydraulic control
a) Cable control: Cable controlled blades in dozers utilize a hoist unit for raising or lowering blades.
Hoist unit is mounted on the front end on the radiator guard. The push arms are tightened to the bracket
outside of the track or under the cage unit. Cable with suitable ultimate strength is used for tilting the
blade at required angle. The transmission unit, engine unit etc. being similar to as hydraulic controlled
type dozers.

b) Hydraulic control: Hydraulic control of blades utilizes a incompressible hydraulic fluid, which under
high pressure in the hydraulic cylinder operates the blades to required height and direction. The important
components of system include a control (direction) valve, a hydraulic pump, oil filters and suitable hose
connections etc. The direction control valve regulates the direction of flow of oil to suitable cylinder so
that control of blade at required angle can be achieved. The oil pump may be gear type or vane type
which is capable of building high pressure in cylinders. Generally oil pumps are driven by P.T.O. shaft or
other suitable gear drive. Suitable cooling of hydraulic oil is required so as to maintain the properties
arrangement (like viscosity, flash and five point etc.) of oil constant though operation. The arrangement is
shown in figure.
Main Components of a Dozer
In general all Dozers should be equipped with following basic parts which names the construction as
dozers, viz.

Components in Hydraulic System of a dozer:

1) Engine unit [power source]
2) Clutch
3) Transmission system.
4) Control System
a) Brake System
5) Hydraulic System.

b) Steering System

6) Track mechanism or under carriage.

1) Engine unit: It is the power source for propulsion and desired operation. Usually 6-cylinder diesel
engine is equipped in dozer as a power source. The engine unit being similar to heavy duty operated
tractors.
2) Clutch: Similar to all vehicles, dozers are also equipped with clutch unit for connecting and
disconnecting the power from engine to transmission unit.
Clutch for dozers can be multiplate or single plate. But it should be wet type. Generally multiplate clutch
is preferable because sufficient area for friction is available for same space and hence more power can be
transmitted. To maintain properties of clutch lining and to reduce heat developed clutch should be wet
type. Therefore cooling oil is circulated continuously in clutch housing at a pressure. The operation of
clutch being similar to conventional method i.e. clutch is disengaged by overcoming spring force.
Hydraulic assisted clutch pedal may also used to reduce the power required by driver for operation of
clutch.
3) Transmission system: The main function of transmission unit in dozer is to transmit the power from
engine to wheels [through differential, such that resistance of dozer is fulfilled i.e. it varies torque, speed
and direction of motion as per requirement.

4) Control System: Control System in dozer comprises mainly

a) Steering System and
b) Brake System
a) Steering System: Steering System in dozers differs from conventional steering because, here steering
gears and related systems are absent. Steering of vehicle [dozer] can be achieved by slowing or braking to
required track and while other track remains in motion and hence desired steering is achieved.
b) Braking System: The desirable function from braking system is to slow down the motion [speed] or to
stop the [vehicle] dozer within shortest possible distance and time. The distance travelled after braking
and time required for complete rest depends mainly speed of vehicle and mass of vehicle.
Hence, as mass of Dozer (vehicle) increased or is high, the brake system should be robust to absorb
kinetic energy into heat energy. Here due to heat developed in braking is more, sufficient ventilation for
brake is necessary. Generally, external contacting band brakes are used in dozers.

5) Track mechanism or under carriage unit: Track mechanism for Dozers is very similar to track
type tractors. Necessity of track for Dozer or for crawler tractor is as the driving wheel exerts thrust on
the ground while rolling over it, there will be tendency to sliding motion or slip between the tyre and the
ground. Now if we increases the tyre contacting area with the ground, the slip will be reduced, but it is
undesirable affects by increasing tyre size also tyre cannot work in rough terrains. In operations like
reclaiming barren land, road construction etc. Dozer requires high tractive effort with minimum possible
size. Hence track even though it is complicated and costlier, it is sometimes or should be used under such
circumstances.

Main components of the Hydraulic System in dozers (or in crawler

type tractor).
1) Reservoir or hydraulic oil tank:
2) Hydraulic pump:
a) Variable displacement pump

b) Positive displacement pump

c) Radial Piston Pump etc.

3) Hydraulic valves
a) Pressure relief valve

b) Direction flow control valve

c) Volume control valve

4) Hydraulic cylinders
a) Single acting cylinder

b) Double acting

5) Hydraulic pipes [hose]

a) High Pressure Hose

b) Very high pressure Hose

Optimization

Making it more economical

In order to make this thing more economical it should be design to work on solar energy
however it is almost impossible for such devices to be working on the solar energy but if
we could not make the whole device running on solar energy Atleast we can make some
of its parts. This can reduce the fuel consumption of this device

Remote control system

Despite the mechanical and electrical advancement over the years in the dozers there are
life threatening risks involved in operating the dozers particularly when working on steep

slopes and high walls. So in order to minimize these risks the next step should be towards
a remote control dozer system