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1. General notions. Classifications and characteristics of

constructions transportation
To make up construction works is necessary to move high quantities of
different materials such as aggregates, cement, steel, concrete, plasters or
precast elements from a place to another.
The transported products have different shapes, dimensions and
densities;
Construction transportation has the following particularities:
The transportation means are loaded only in one way from the producer
to the site, their returning being empty;
The transportation distances can be small (several meters) or very great
(up to hundred of kilometres);
Usually there are two main directions in transportation: horizontal
transport and vertical one.
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The construction products transportation represents a complex process that

implies loading, circulation and unloading.
By taking into consideration the characteristics that influence the
transportation, the materials can be:
Powdery (consisting of fine particles) materials such as cement or plaster;
Granular materials such as sand, gravel or soil;
Regular small materials (bricks);
Uneven (not even or uniform as e.g. in shape or texture) small materials
(rocks);
Big regular or uneven materials (metallic profiles, precast elements);
Liquid materials of different consistency (water, gas, oils, hot bitumen,
and fresh concrete).
All these materials can be transported:
Horizontally along big distances, between storehouses or from a
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warehouse to a site (H1);

 Horizontally on small distances from the site storehouse to the lifting

device (H2);
Vertically, to lift or to descend different materials (V1);
Again horizontally on small distances to reach the working point (H 3);
Combined (both horizontal and vertical) directly from the site storehouse
to the object if the lifting devices can (C1).
These ways of transport are presented bellow:

Fig. 1 Ways of transportation

The materials can also be transported:

Directly in a transportation mean;
In wrap (ambalaj) such as boxes, bags or barrels; usually liquids and
powders are carried in such a way;
In containers like big boxes in which we put a number of bags;
Through pipes.

2. Horizontal transportation
According to their rolling way the horizontal transportation can be made by
road or by rail.
The specific means used to transport materials by road are vehicles, which
are in present the most popular way of transport.
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 Long distance horizontal transportation

Usually, vehicles have the following properties:
Different transportation capacities;
Easy access to the working points;
High speeds;
Easy maintenance and exploitation.
In constructions we use:
Fix platform trucks (autocamion) have hinged shutters (oblon) and are
usually used to transport wraping materials or containers. Simplified
service and maintenance features combined with improved service access
are designed to reduce downtime.

Fig. 2 Fix platform trucks

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 Tipping trucks (autobasculanta) are used to transport materials, which

can be unloaded by sliding on a tilt plane such as granular and powder
materials.
The unloading operation holds 30 60 seconds and can be made only
backwards or both backwards and lateral; the tilting angle can be up to 90
These are better transportation vehicles than the first ones if the site is not
provided with lifting devices (cranes).

Fig. 3 Tipping trucks

 Transit mixer (autobetoniera) has the same forms like fix platform trucks
only the box is replaced with a tank (rezervor).

Fig. 4 Transit mixer

Short distance horizontal transportation

It is used to bring materials from site storehouses to the transporting means
For this kind of transportation we usually use light devices such as barrows
(roaba), concrete buggies (tomberon de beton) or blade tractor.
Short distances horizontal transportation is characteristic for the material
transportation inside the site perimeter.
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The specified distances for this type of means are from 50 up to 100m, so
they are proper for sites where there are lifting devices with small radius
and lifting capacities.

Fig. 5 Barrow, Concrete buggy & Blade tractor

Another transportation devices also used for short distances can be loading
tractors (autoincarcator Wolla).
They are used to load and unload different quantities of materials.
The working equipment can be a bucket (cupa), a grab bucket (graifer) or a
hook.
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Fig. 6 Loader tractor

Dumpers transport the same materials like tipping trucks. They are used for
small distances (app. 1 km) inside the site area and offer proven reliability
and durability, high performance, low fuel consumption, operator comfort
and low operating costs.
These kinds of devices have same advantages:
Tough and versatile the site dumpers offer reliability and simplicity for a
long, productive life;
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 They have high strength and rigid welded steel chassis;

Are fitted with hydraulic tipping and electric start;
They can have high discharge and 180 degrees rotating concrete skip.

Fig. 7 Dumpers
Nevertheless there exist some limitations in operating site dumpers as listed
bellow:
Avoid slopes, including slopes across the direction of travel;
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 Dumper overturns often occur due to a combination of slope and rough

ground;
Speed should be kept to a minimum on rough ground that lead to a
diminish in working productivity;
The stability of high lift skip dumpers is greatly reduced when the skip
is in the elevated position.
If the materials are placed in containers of different shapes and dimensions
the vehicle that is proper to be used is the stacker (motostivuitor) .

Fig. 8 Stacker

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3. Vertical transportation
Vertical transportation has to bring loads from the ground level to different
heights for supplies or for technological processes.
This kind of transportation represents the link between long horizontal
transportation and the short one, so between the suppliers or storehouse to
the working point.
The means that can be used in this kind of transportation are:
Pulleys (scripeti) represent simple mechanisms that are used for loading
and unloading weights. They usually are parts of other lifting devices.
Pulleys can be fix or mobile.

Fig. 9 Fix & mobile

pulleys
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 Tackles (palane) are mechanisms made by a number of fix and mobile

pulleys and are used to load great weights.
Tackles can be multiple or exponential. The multiple tackle is made by an
equal number of fix and mobile pulleys and the exponential one is made by a
greater number of mobile pulleys.

Fig. 10 Multiple & exponential tackles

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 Winches (troliu) are mechanisms used to transport loads on vertical or tilt

surfaces.
They are made by system of wheels which decrease the tracking force and a
drum for the cable.
It can be reversible or irreversible.
In the case of irreversible winches the engine is used only for lifting the load.
The descending is given by gravitational weight of the load. For the
reversible one the engine provides both the lifting and the descending.

Fig. 11 Electromechanical winch

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 Electric tackles (electropalane) are horizontal lifting and transporting

devices.
They are made by electromechanical winch for lifting the weight and an
engine that provides the horizontal moving on a metallic profile.
A mobile electrical panel makes the moving command. They can lift weights
up to 1.5 kN and the lifting height is 30 m.

Fig. 12 Electric tackles

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 Hydraulic jacks (cric hidraulic) are lifting devices for very big weights at
small heights.
A cylinder in which moves a piston activated by a liquid under pressure
(usually oil) makes a jack.
The pressure of the liquid can be increased with the help of pump.
To decrease the piston an orifice is opened to allow the liquid returning into
the pomp.
Hydraulic can lift loads from 20 to 300 tones but the lifting heights are only
20 cm.

Fig. 13 Hydraulic jack

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 Slab and window cranes are light devices that can be placed on floors by
using a frame and counterweights or in the spaces provided for widows by
using a telescopic column.
Their lifting capacities are up to 1.5 kN and the lifting heights are 30 m.

Fig. 14 Window & Slab cranes

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 Guyed derrick consists of a single boom and mast. The mast stands
vertically and is guyed to anchorages.
Derrick represents a lifting device which may be hand - operated by one
man or worked by several powerful motors. Strictly, a derrick is a
stationary crane, but some Scotch derricks move on two or more rails.
The guyed - mast is a pole (catarg) held in a nearly vertical position by four
or more guy ropes (guy rope - a cable, wire, or rope that is used to brace (a
ancora) something).
The arrangement allows both changing of radius and turning, but lifting is
usually only attempted under a guy rope.
The derrick is widely used for steel work erection, especially in heavy plant
construction, such us power stations although with the continued growth of
the tower crane it is step by step losing its benefits.

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swivel connection legatura pivotanta

guy ropes fringhii de ancorare
luffing tackle palan de coborire/ridicare

Fig 15 Guyed derrick

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 The stiff-leg derrick (Scotch derrick in UK) has no guys and is usually a
stationary crane, diesel or electrically driven.
It works on the principle of the guy derrick but the permanent steel
structure holds the mast in a vertical position, tied back to two horizontal
legs (or stays) which meet at the foot of the mast.
These legs called sleepers (travers de cale ferat) must be held down by
heavy weights at their ends, proportional to the load lifted.
Fig 16 Stiff leg derrick

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4. Combined transportation
This kind of transportation is characteristic for supplying and for
technological transportation.
The cranes are the most used devices for this kind of transportation.
There are several types of cranes such as:
Truck cranes are used to load the trucks platform, on which it is
permanently mounted.
A rotation mast (catarg) and a boom (brat) makes the crane. The boom is
composed of three articulated sections that can be moved by a hydraulic
engine.

Fig. 17 Truck cranes

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 Truck mounted cranes are lifting devices on wheels.

Modern constructions sites often require cranes to provide medium to heavy
lifting capacity over wide reaches.
Frequently the vehicle is required for a short period of time and then to be
able to travel to another job.
The solution for this problem is to develop a traditional truck to support
lifting units.
The biggest advantage of a truck mounted crane is that it travels at normal
truck speeds on public highways and on site needs only a short period of
time to prepare for the lifting operations.
They have some particularities such as:
The chassis has the classical truck shape;
The crane has two cabins: one for driving the vehicle and the other one
for lifting operations.
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These kinds of cranes have same advantages:

They do not depend on a rolling way such as tower cranes;
They have a great mobility (the time spend to change their positions are
relatively small);
They can move virtually on any kind of soil;
They can work properly without connecting to a power supply because
their engines have internal combustion.
There are several types of truck mounted cranes, but the most important
are:
a. Truck mounted crane is designed to lift different weights at relatively
small heights.
It is a rotation crane, which can quickly move from a working point to
another. It can lift weights up to 7.2 m.
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Fig. 18 Truck mounted

crane
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b. Truck mounted crane & tower equipment is usually used to load and
unload granular materials or for mounting operations on site.
The tower equipment is used in the case of prefabs mounting at industrial
construction.
On a truck chassis is placed a fix platform. The crane drivers cabin is
placed on a rotation platform, which is sustained by the fix one.
When it is used the crane the lifting capacity is of 5 tf but the lifting height is
between 4.5 and 7 m. The lifting height becomes 26 m for the minimum
span, but the manipulated weight decrease till 1.5 tf.
To increase the lifting height the cranes arrow can be replaced with the
tower equipment. This device is placed also on the rotation platform.
Mobile truck mounted cranes were designed having the following criteria:
All capacities are limited to the proportion of the tipping load;
Boom sections should be extended equally in the case of telescopic cranes;
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 The crane may be operated blocked on outriggers (picioare de reazem) or

free on wheels but with a corresponding reduction in the loading capacity;
The weight of the hook and other supplementary devices must be
included in the total working weight to find the suitable size of the crane.
The crane moves from a place to another if the road conditions are normal
with its boom folded or if the tower device is placed on the rotary platform a
single axle trailer is used .

Fig. 19 Tower
equipment

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c. Telescopic truck mounted crane is a more powerful crane with bigger

lifting heights because it is made by a number of steel arms, which can fold
one to another. This type of crane is hydraulically acted.
Fig. 20 Telescopic
crane

All these types of cranes present some disadvantages such as:

The effective working radius decreases when the building height increase;
The cranes boom cannot reach all points of the working point if it is not
provided with an extension piece;
The wedging (calare) for any working point decreases the productivity.
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 Rubber wheel mounted cranes have also some particularities:

The chassis is made by a metallic structure which lay on two or more
axles;
The rotation platform lay on the chassis through a special bearing;
The boom is fixed to the rotation platform by a joint.
For this kind of crane the permitted acts are:
Hook lifting or descending (loaded/unloaded);
Platform rotation;
Boom declivity modification only when the crane is not loaded.
There are several types of rubber mounted cranes of different capacities
from 5 tf up to 112 tf.
The lifting heights are bigger than truck mounted cranes and they can
reach 60 m.
Also the working radius is great, up to 45 m.
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Fig. 21 Rubber wheel mounted crane in the transportation stage

 Caterpillar cranes have the lifting device similar to rubber mounted

cranes.
On many construction sites a crane is needed to lift small to medium loads,
such as concrete skips, reinforcements, formworks and other different
materials.
Flexibility of movement around the site represents the biggest aim, thus
where the work is spread over a vast area beyond the tower crane can reach,
a crane able of operating on unprepared surfaces is required.
Rubber tyre cranes are excellent for lifting on firm surfaces, but on many
situations the ground conditions are so bad that they become useless.
For these types of sites the caterpillar crane represents the most
advantageous device to be used.
This is because the weight of the crane is spread over a large bearing area
under wide and long tracks.
The difference appears to the infrastructure where the rubber wheels are
replaced with caterpillars.
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These kinds of cranes have some advantages such as:

Reduced earth pressure which implies easy access to all kind of soils;
They can lift bigger loads;
No wedging operations so an increased productivity;
They can move loaded.
Above the listed advantages they have some disadvantages, such as:
Are slower than the rubber mounted cranes which leads to big waiting
times between two jobs;
Are more expensive then the other cranes.

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 Tower cranes are made by a must and a jib which has an angle with the
horizontal that can be fixed or can vary. Transverse and rails make their
rolling way.
The main advantage of the tower crane is that the jib or boom is supported
at the top of a tall tower which may be set at a sufficient height to clear any
obstructions.
This configuration allows the crane to stand very close to, or even in, the
structure under construction.
In this way a relatively short boom provides more reach in comparison with
other types of crane.
Thus for high rise buildings the tower crane is often the cheapest form of
device.
They are characterized by the following technical advantages:
Relatively reduced own weight;
Complete tower rotation;
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 Maximum stabilization.
The tower crane transportation can be made without its braking apart.
The tower and the boom are placed horizontally and the crane is
transported on a special wheel chassis.
The crane comprises a vertical standing lattice framed central mast, which
supports a horizontal boom in two parts, the larger section being used for
lifting and carries a trolley or a saddle travelling on guides along the length
of the boom.
On the opposite side of the mast a shorter boom supports a kentledge block
and serves as a counterbalance.
The resistance to overturning when lifting (and from wind pressure) is
transferred through the tower to a heavy foundation base.
The tower cranes must be designed to resist torsion from side loads acting
on the boom such as swinging load, wind, etc. it is usual for crane operation
to be suspended when the wind gust speed exceed 60 km/h and the boom is
left to swing freely on the turntable to reduce the torsion effect.
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Fig. 22 Tower crane

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