When you swing by a construction site, there are several types of equipment around you. Whether you’re driving by or running one of these sites yourself, it’s always a good idea to learn about the most popular pieces of construction equipment and what they do to make the worker’s job easier. Many machines have one of the high-end engines from CAT or other popular brands and efficiently run throughout the site.
1. Dump Trucks
While they might not be the most exciting machines on the site, dump trucks serve a valuable purpose. These heavy-duty trucks contain large, wide, and deep beds that other machines fill up with dirt, gravel, and other materials picked up at the construction site. Once the beds are full, the trucks haul them away for dumping.
2. Loaders
Loaders help get materials off the ground and into the trucks or other materials. Drivers adjust the wide trough-like bucket at different angles to pick up piles of dirt and debris to move it from one place to another.
3. Dozers
Dozers come in various models but generally have a large, wide, flat plate on the front that serves the purpose of clearing space by shoving it off to the side. Once everything is moved out of the way and formed into big piles, the loaders typically grab it and put it into the dump truck.
4. Rollers
We used to call rollers “steamrollers” because they ran on steam, and while this isn’t the case anymore, the name stuck, and they’re one of the most popular pieces of construction equipment. The round drums are excellent for flattening the area and creating a solid foundation for building.
5. Excavators
These crane-like machines have a giant controllable arm with a deep bucket on the end that’s perfect for digging pits or pulling things out from areas that other equipment can’t safely access. The usefulness of an excavator on a construction site is impossible to overstate.
