What's on your construction site?

When you walk past a construction site, it's easy to wonder what different types of equipment is required for different types of projects. If you're not familiar with the different kinds of projects, or even the type of machinery used, it's difficult to keep track.

To help you out, we've listed the most common construction projects and the different categories of plant and equipment you could expect to see.

Road works

Road works encompass the maintenance or repair of roads and highways. There are three phases to road works, namely rough grading (or earthmoving), fine grading, and surfacing (which involves concrete, asphalt, gravel or any combination of the three). The following are some of the items needed for projects involving road works:

• Industrial vacuum / Hydro-excavation truck
• Asphalt paving machines
• Bitumen equipment
• Bitumen tanker / trailer
• Gravel spreading equipment / machine
• Paving equipment / machine
• Pre-coated aggregate spreader truck
• Profiler
• Ride-on sweeper
• Road broom / Road sweeper

Infrastructure construction

Infrastructure construction includes commercial and residential buildings, bridges and other developments. This kind of construction has a longer process, thus the list of plant and equipment needed to finish this kind of project is longer. Infrastructure construction is divided into three main phases which are earthworks phase, concreting phase and the structural phase. Each of the three phases require different kinds of machines, which are listed below:

1. Earthworks Phase: this involves digging to prepare the site where a building will be erected. The following are needed for this phase:
   • Excavator - Standard excavator, Long reach excavator, Zero swing excavator, Swamp excavator
   • Dozer - Rubber tyred, Swamp, Tracked, Wheeled
   • Grader
   • Scraper - Elevating scraper, Mini scraper, Open bowl scraper, Open twin bowl powered scraper
   • Skid steer / Posi track / Bobcat - Track skid steer / Posi track, Wheeled skid steer
   • Water cart / truck
   • Roller - Smooth drum roller, Pad foot roller, Combination roller, Multi tyred roller / Pneumatic tyred roller, Static three-drum roller, Trench roller, Walk-behind roller
   • Loader - IT loader, Mini loader, Track loader, Wheel loader
   • Dump truck - Rigid or articulate
   • Tipper truck
     
     
2. Concreting Phase: this involves filling out what was excavated in the earthworks phase and is considered as the foundation of any building or structure. The following plant and equipment are needed for this phase:
   
   
   • Concrete boom pump - Boom pumps, Line pumps, Placing boom pumps, Stationary/Trailer pumps
   • Concrete batching plant
   • Concrete cutting / saw
   • Concrete mixer
   • Vibrating screen
   • Concrete vibrator
   • Laser screed / trowel
   • Concrete grinder / chisel
     
     
3. Structural Phase: this is the last phase in infrastructure construction and this involves erecting the base structure and beaming, and then the finishing of the structure which includes the involvement of builders, plasters, electricians, mechanical and plumbing, roofing and glaziers. These are the plant and equipment needed for this phase:
   
   
   • Cranes - Tower crane, Self-erecting crane, Mini crawler crane, Lattice boom, Hydraulic truck crane, City crane, Franna crane, Rough terrain crane, Crawler crane
   • Elevated work platforms (EWP) - Scissor lift, Knuckle boom, Cherry picker, Material hoist, Spider lift, Telescopic boom, Telehandler
   • Generators - Standard generator, Trailer mounted generator
   • Site amenities - Portable / shipping container, Portable accommodation / Donga, Portable lunch room / Crib hut, Portable office / Change room / First Aid room, Portable power pole, Portable shower, Portable toilet / shower / Ablution block, Portable workshop, Site / Temporary / Portable fencing, Lighting tower

Those with decades in the construction industry will know equipment requirements like the back of their hand. However, if you're just starting out, it will take a bit of time to fully familiarise yourself with all the project types and relevant machinery.

PlantMiner curates a variety of plant, equipment and subcontractors for hire from thousands of suppliers all over Australia and New Zealand. Need assistance in procuring your construction needs? Get in touch with one of our Professionals today at 1300 550 434 or tell us what you need to hire and we will get in touch for further details on your requirements.

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