The Reasons for Bulk Earthworks and Land Clearing

While watching a road be built you probably noticed the enormous equipment that are surround the work site. Included there you more than likely noticed the dump trucks and you wonder about the equipment and why there seems to be so much of it.
 

All this machinery is known as excavating equipment and they excavating or bulk earth moving. 

There are generally 2 functions for Earthwork;

1. To cut into the ground and excavating

2. Or the construction of a new area such as an embankment, by adding new material.

Earthworks must take into consideration several factors prior to doing their jobs. The type of material is considered as well as the amount. These considerations form objectives which are to move only what you need. The reason for this is based on how costly it will become having to collect and deliver the waste material. 

You will find earthworks any time there is a building of a road, highways, dams, trenches and commercial and residential buildings. 

Earthworks uses essentially 2 different types of excavations.

1. By the type of material being excavated

2. How much material is required. 

To aid in the defraying of cost, one must know what category the material falls in. Essentially there are 4 classifications.

1. Loose dirt considered as easy

2. Gravel and clay classified as medium 

3. Wet clay, gravel or broken boulders which is classified as medium hare

4. Finally, material that requires blasting, classified as hard material. 

There are other classifications as well such as topsoil and a mixture of materials. There are classifications of purpose such as trenches or structures etc.  

Computer technology also assists in and is used in the above considerations as well. Specialized software is used to calculate the amount of removal and the amount of use. 

Still considered earthworks is land clearing. That of course includes removing of trees, brush and etc. Much of the same considerations are required for land clearing for example the type of material and how much of it will required 

Very much the same equipment is involved. Waste material can still be a factor. One major difference between the 2 is the fact that land clearing equipment will remain throughout the entire project. From the end to the completion. Land clearing will quite often require the removal of boulders as well and trees and brush. 

In both earthworks and land clearing the same equipment is used. The major differences between bulk earthworks and land clearing would be that land clearing though remaining on the site throughout has not much to do in the participation of the building of anything, whereas earthworks does.

So the next time you are sitting in that traffic jam waiting for the equipment to move out of the way. You can wonder what are they going to do with that material. Or, you can sit happy with the knowledge that you know their purpose.