The Benefits Of Renting Equipment For Highway Construction Projects

Highway construction crews know that tackling the tough job of building and rebuilding highways demands reliable, hardworking equipment. From asphalt pavers and road reclaimers to dozers and dump trucks, crews rely on a combination of equipment to get the job done.

WHAT TYPE OF EQUIPMENT IS USED IN HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION?

Highway construction is a challenging sector of the construction industry, requiring numerous types of equipment and tools to tackle different aspects of the job. From clearing land and removing rock and brush to grading and sloping the roadway to laying down asphalt, crews have lots of tasks to finish to create a long-lasting, high-quality highway.

Below are some of the top rental equipment options for highway construction.

1. ASPHALT PAVERS

As critical equipment in highway construction, asphalt pavers are machines that lay down the asphalt for highway road surfaces. Asphalt pavers work by funneling hot mix asphalt (HMA) to the rear of the machine, where the asphalt mixture gets poured onto the road surface. As the asphalt mixture is being poured, it travels through a screed, which is the tool that controls the amount of mixture being poured as the paver drives ahead. This ensures the even distribution of the material and the correct amount of thickness and width.

How the HMA travels through the machine to be poured out depends on the type of mixture feed system in use. A tilt-hopper asphalt paver uses gravity to draw asphalt mixture from the hopper into the screed and is typically reserved for smaller residential and commercial jobs. A conveyor-fed paver uses a mechanized conveyor belt to draw down large quantities of material, moving up to 500 tons of asphalt mixture per day. Conveyor-fed pavers are ideal for highway construction.

Asphalt pavers can be equipped with either tracks or wheels. Tracked pavers are suitable for uneven terrain with awkward angles, or for ground that is wet or sandy. Wheeled pavers are suitable for paving long, flat stretches of highway and move quicker than tracked models. The trade-off is that wheeled pavers have less traction.

2. COLD PLANERS

Cold planers, also known as asphalt milling machines, are a type of equipment designed for removing pavement and concrete from roads that have deteriorated and need to be resurfaced. Essentially, cold planers are used to recycle existing pavement by cutting up and grinding the pavement they collect so it can be used as aggregate in new pavement mixtures.

For asphalt surfaces, cold planers allow road construction workers to use the reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) to create new asphalt mixture that will be applied to the road when it gets resurfaced with an asphalt paver. Some types of cold planers also grind up reclaimed pavement to serve as material for creating rumble strips and other road surface features.

With cold planers, operators are able to remove the worn-out sections of pavement to a predetermined grade and slope, which allows for vehicle traffic to continue using the road in the meantime as road resurfacing continues. Cat cold planers use a technology-driven advanced rotor system that allows for precision milling in reclaiming a specified and controlled amount of pavement.

3. ROAD RECLAIMERS

When highways begin to deteriorate and become destabilized, road reclaimers are used to help reinforce and reconstruct the road. Road reclaimers work by pulverizing the top asphalt layer and mixing it with the underlying soil. During a second pass at reclamation, road reclaimers can also add asphalt emulsions and binding agents to the reclaimed asphalt to further restabilize the road.

4. ROAD WIDENERS

Road wideners are road construction equipment used to discharge the correct amount of road surfacing material at the precise grade and slope that’s needed. They’re used to lay down surface material on the shoulders or other narrower parts of the road that don’t get covered by pavers.

A road widener receives asphalt or road surfacing material from a dump truck into its attached hopper. Using a hydraulic belt, the machine then passes the material to the road widener equipment’s strike-off tool, which feeds it in the correct leveled amount that’s needed for the desired grade and slope of the road.

The road widening process maximizes efficiency in laying down road material because it prevents excess deposits that would otherwise need to be cleaned up later. Being able to lay down road material in a single controlled pass also saves on production costs and improves crew productivity.

5. COMPACTORS

Compactors are road construction equipment used to improve the quality of the pavement, extending its longevity and cost-effectiveness. By compacting pavement with roller equipment, crews are able to reduce the number of air voids present so the pavement will remain durable under the repeated weight of vehicle traffic over time.

Roads that aren’t adequately compacted tend to fatigue prematurely and become prone to rutting and damage due to moisture incursion. With compacting equipment, road crews can achieve the right compacting weight and evenness, resulting in a consistent finished product.

6. DOZERS

Bulldozers are versatile construction equipment used in building new highways or expanding existing ones. Crews use dozers to move large amounts of material such as gravel, soil and rock away from the working area so the new road can be established and smoothed out. Bulldozers are especially valuable for removing topsoil from the new road surface so it can be replaced with clean fill and inert gravel that prevents road destabilization.

With the right blade, dozers can also assist in grading and sloping, as well as trenching and backfilling to help build up the road shoulders. Like other types of roadwork and earthmoving equipment, dozers come with either tracks or tires. Tracked dozers are useful in rugged terrain, providing greater surface area for improved traction and mobility. Wheeled dozers are suitable for large stretches of flat and even road, with the ability to move faster across sites.

7. MOTOR GRADERS

Motor graders, also known simply as graders, are used in highway construction to flatten, grade and shape roadways. With their front moldboard, motor graders are able to precisely grade, level and sculpt roads ahead of surface finishing. Motor graders, like dozers, can help move stumps, branches, rocks and other debris away from the working area in order to establish the roadway. However, unlike bulldozers, motor graders are better at fine grading and tackling larger areas of land, such as with mega highway construction and large infrastructure projects.

Proper drainage is critical in highway construction. Motor graders allow crews to properly slope the new road to encourage runoff into ditches. During road maintenance and repair, crews also use motor graders to remove debris and maintain ditches to help preserve existing roadways.

8. DUMP TRUCKS

In highway construction, crews need ways to move material to, from and around the site. Whether it’s to deliver clean fill or gravel or to remove rock, soil and debris, dump trucks are necessary for the efficient management of large quantities of material on a construction site.

Depending on the size of the construction project, different types of dump trucks may be used. Crews may also rely on a combination of truck types, including standard dump trucks and off-highway trucks. Off-road trucks are rugged vehicles used for massive highway projects, as they can carry huge quantities of material and withstand rigorous conditions during the construction process.

9. COMPACT AND WHEEL LOADERS

Loaders are extremely useful equipment on all construction sites, including highway construction. When crews need to move material, remove debris and clear land in preparation for highway construction, loaders are the answer. Additionally, loaders are extremely versatile thanks to their compatibility with numerous work tools. From rakes to brushcutters to brooms, attachments allow loaders to perform a variety of tasks during highway construction.

Depending on the size of the project, there are many different loader types to choose from. Wheel loaders are the biggest, with rugged wheels and high operating weight capacities. Compact wheel loaders provide similar functions but in a more maneuverable machine. Compact track and multi terrain loaders are tracked compact loaders that can tackle uneven and rugged terrain during highway construction. Skid steer loaders are capable of taking on a variety of different jobs throughout the construction project, and their speed makes them convenient for various tasks.

10. EXCAVATORS

In building highways, excavators are necessary support equipment in preparing the work zone for construction. Crews use excavators to remove stumps, logs, boulders and rocks that need to be cleared to build the new road. Excavators are also powerful digging machines that crews use to build roadside ditches and establish proper drainage away from the road surface. With so many different work tools available for excavators, their versatility makes them essential on highway construction sites.

Excavators are available in either wheeled or tracked versions. As with other equipment types, wheeled excavators are suitable for hard, flat ground where the conditions are dry and less rugged. Tracked excavators are useful in highway construction projects in rough and rocky terrain with plenty of slopes.