Excavators

Power Shovel
Dragline
Clamshell
Backhoe or Hoe
Hydraulic excavator
Excavator loader or Backhoe loader
Bucket wheel excavator
Trenching machines

Shovel

Output of shovel
3600
Output of shovel = q
efficiency
C
where
q = Produ n in m3 / cycle = Heaped capacity Swell factor Bucket factor
C = Excavation time + Swing time +Dumping time

Factors affecting output of shovel

Nature of soil
Depth of cut
Angle of swing
Capacity of hauling unit and nos
Job Conditions
Mechanical condition of shovel
Efficiency of operator
Size of bucket
Type of machine ( Crawler or Wheel mounted )

Precautions required to take to better output from

excavators
Working cycle should be smooth, well balanced and well managed.
Have a clear swing.
Have sufficient number of hauling units to keep excavator busy. Avoid
waiting time for hauling units as well as for excavator. Also see the
hauling unit rolling is evenly distributed.
Load the hauling unit uniformly, avoid overloading.
Position the excavator at a place so as to get proper swing and position
with respect to type of material handled and position of hauling units.
Dig the top half of high bank first to avoid lowering of the boom in each
cycle. Then digging of the next half should be taken up. This will help in
reducing cycle time.
While waiting for the hauling units, do not keep excavator idle. This time
should be utilized in cleaning the pit area, loosening the bank, cleaning up
the corners, levelling the grades etc. so that these operations may not
consume time once the hauling unit arrives.
Keep bucket teeth well sharpen.

Backhoe

Output of Backhoe

3600
Output of Backhoe = q
efficiency
C
where
q = Produ n in m 3 / cycle = Heaped capacity Swell factor Bucket factor
C = Excavation time + Swing time +Dumping time

Dragline

Output of Dragline
Dragline production = Dragline bucket capacity C f
Where
C = Theortical cycles/hr = 120 cycles/hr
f = Correction factor
= f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7

Fill factor f1
Sr. No.

Class

Fill factor

Sand or Fine gravel

(a) Dry
(b) Damp
(c) Wet

1.1 to 1.2
1.0 to 1.1
0.9 to 0.8

Clay
(a) Sandy clay, dry
(b) Cohesive, dry
(c) Very cohesive, hard

0.95 to 1.0
0.90 to 0.95
0.88 to 0.90

Earth with sand or Gravel dry

0.85 to 0.88

Top soil
(a) Sandy clay
(b) Clay damp

0.82 to 0.85
0.80 to 0.82

Clay with sand or gravel, damp

0.75 to 0.80

Slate like rock, gravel

0.72 to 0.75

Gravel with clay, hard

0.70 to 0.72

Clay with large size gravel, damp

0.68 to 0.70

Digging factor f2

Job efficiency factor f6

Boom length in
meter

12

18

24

30

Digging factor

0.86

0.79

0.72

0.65

Actual working
time
Job efficiency
factor

Hoist factor f3

60
min/hr
1.0

50
min/hr
0.83

40
min/hr
0.67

Swing factor f4

Boom length in meter

12

18

24

30

Angle of swing

90

120

180

Hoist factor

0.95

0.92

0.90

0.87

Swing factor

0.86

0.79

0.72

Loading factor f5
Method of dumping

Truck

Hopper

Stockpile

Loading factor

0.96

0.96

1.0

Operator factor f7
Operator

Experienced

Average

Beginner

Operator factor

1.0

0.95

0.85

Factors affecting output of Dragline

Nature of soil
Depth of cut
Angle of swing
Capacity and number of hauling units
Mechanical condition of Dragline
Efficiency of operator
Layout of site
Size and type of bucket and boom
Teeth of bucket and its condition

Clamshell

Output of clamshell
Clamshell production = Clamshell bucket capacity C f
Where
C = Theortical cycles/hr = 120 cycles/hr
f = Correction factor
= f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7

Digging factor f2
Clamshell capacity in m3

Digging factor

0.98

0.97

0.96

0.96

0.95

Hoist factor f3
Digging depth in meter

10

15

20

Hoist factor

0.88

0.76

0.64

0.52

Swing factor f4
Swing angle in deg.

60

90

120

180

Swing factor

1.2

1.0

0.98

0.90

Fill factor, loading factor Job efficiency factor and Operator factor are same as previous

Comparison between various shovels

Sr.
No.

Points of consideration

Dipper shovel

Dragline

Backhoe

Clamshell

Operation in hard soil or

rock

Good

Poor

Good

Good

Operation in wet soil or

mud

Poor

Fair

Poor

Fair

Distance between footing

and digging

Small

Long

Small

Long

Loading efficiency into

the vehicles

Very good

Fair

Good

Precise
but slow

Digging level

At or above
footing level

Below
footing
level

Below
footing
level

At, above
or below
footing
level

Cycle time as compared

to dipper shovel

-------------

More

Slightly
more

High

Hydraulic Excavator

Output of Excavator
3600
Output of Excavator = q
efficiency
C
where
q = Produ n in m3 / cycle = Heaped capacity Swell factor Bucket factor
C = Excavation time + Swing time +Dumping time

Excavator loader

Bucket wheel excavator

Wheel trenchers

Specifications for Wheel Trenchers

Max.
Trench
Depth in
m

Trench Width in
Engine
Wheel Speed
m
Power in H.P.
in m/sec

Travel speed
in Km/Hr

Digging
speed in
m/min

1.67

0.38 to 0.53

41

0.18 to 1.35

0.8 to 4.3

0.06 to 0.30

1.82

0.40 to 0.76

50

0.78 to 2.08

0.26 to 7.4

0.08 to 17.4

2.58

0.96 to 1.30

82

1.23

3.1

0.42 to 10.8

Bucket wheel excavator

Specifications for Ladder type Trenchers

Max.
Trench
Depth in
mm

Trench Width in
Engine
Wheel Speed
mm
Power in H.P.
in m/sec

Travel speed
in Km/Hr

Digging
speed in
m/min

1.37

0.15 to 0.20

35

1.24 to 2.72

1.1 to 5.5

0.67 to 6.6

2.58

0.40 to 0.92

41

0.48 to 1.12

2.2 to 5.1

0.15 to 4.2

3.81

0.40 to 1.07

55

0.68 to 2.74

2.2 to 5.1

0.09 to 2.95

4.57

0.45 to 1.37

67

0.52 to 0.85

2.7

0.21 to 4.75

Ladder type trenching machines

Compactors
Material

Impact- Sharp
blows

Pressure- Static
weight

Vibration- shaking

Kneading

Gravel

Poor

No

Good

Very good

Sand

Poor

No

Excellent

Good

Silt

Good

Good

Poor

Excellent

Clay

Excellent

Very good

No

Good

Type of Compactors

Sheep foot roller Towed or self propelled

Tamping roller
Vibratory compactors
Pneumatic tired rollers
Static smooth wheel steel rollers
Plate compactors

Towed type Sheep foot roller

Self propelled sheep foot roller

Tamping Rollers

Vibratory Compactors
Factors affecting the compaction

Static weight
Number of vibratory drums
Roller speed
Number of passes
Drum diameter
Frequency and Amplitude

Tandem Vibratory
Towed Vibratory
Sheep foot Vibratory
Self Propelled
Hand Guided Vibratory

Tandem vibratory compactors

Towed vibratory compactors

Sheep foot vibratory rollers

Self propelled compactors

Hand guided compactors

Pneumatic tired rollers

Effective width = W
W = nw + (n-1)s if s < 225 mm
Or
W = nw if s > 225 mm
Where
n = Number of tires
w = Width of each tyre

Static smooth wheel steel rollers

Plate compactors

Compaction equipment types

Compaction requirements - Maximum depth/ Minimum Number of passes
Maximum depth of compacted layer (mm) / Minimum number of passes
Earth work
Type

Smooth wheel roller

Weight per meter

width

Cohesive soil

Well graded, gravelsand mixtures, dry

cohesive soils

Upto 53 KN/m
125/6
Over 53 KN/m
150/4
Sheep foot roller
Upto 53 KN/m
150/10
Over 53 KN/m
150/4
Tamping roller
Over 50 KN/m
225/4
Vibrating roller
Upto 18 KN/m
125/8
18 KN/m to 42 KN/m
225/4
Over 42 KN/m
275/4
Weight per wheel
Pneumatic tired roller
Up to 25 KN
175/4
25 KN to 59 KN
300/4
59 KN TO 117 KN
400/4
Over 117 KN
450/4
2
Weight per m
Vibrating plate compactor
Upto 14 KN/m2
UNS
2
2
14 KN/m To 21 KN/m
150/6
2
Over 21 KN/m
200/6
T - Roller must be towed: self propelled rollers are unsuitable. UNS- unsuitable

Subbases and road bases

Uniformly graded Granular, cement bound
material
granular, and soil cement
materials

125/8
150/8
UNS
150/12
150/12
150/8
225/4
275/4

125/8 T
UNS
150/10
UNS
250/4
200/10 T
300/8 T
300/4 T

110/16
150/16
UNS
UNS
UNS
150/16
225/7
225/5

125/12
125/10
150/8
175/6

UNS
UNS
UNS
UNS

110/12
110/12
150/16
150/12

75/6
150/5
200/5

150/6
200/4
250/4

UNS
150/8
UNS

Output of compactors
Surface capacity
C W S 1000
Q=
P
Where
Q = Output in m 2 / hr
W= Drum width in meters
S= Avg compaction speed in Km/hr
P= Number of passes
C= Efficiency factor = 0.6 for fair, 0.7 for good,
0.8 for excellent conditions
Volumetric capacity
C W S t 1000
Q=
P
Where
Q = Output in m 3 / hr
T = Thickness of soil layer

Compactor

Speed in Km/h

Tamping foot, Crawler towed

Tamping foot, Wheel tractor towed

5-8
8 16

Self propelled tamping roller

First two or three passes
Walking out
Final passes

58
13 19
16 23

Heavy pneumatic

58

Multitired pneumatic

3 10

Smooth wheel

36

Sheep foot

6 10

Vibrating
Plate
Roller

12
23