Highway construction NOT using scrapers

[caver]

I've noticed, on a four lane highway project on the way to my property, that they don't use scrapers anymore. Hills are dug out using a large track hoe and loaded into large, possibly articulated, dump trucks. I assume it is more economical this way instead of using scrapers to shave off the hills and fill in the valleys?
I remember as a kid watching scrapers and even turn-a-pulls, whenever
a bunch of dirt need to be moved short distances.

 

[LBrown59]

I remember as a kid watching scrapers and even turn-a-pulls .

When I was a kid I called them turn a pools.

 

[JDPN]

It all depends on the soil conditions and what a contractor has on site. Rocky soil or really muddy soil ie are not too scraper friendly

 

[Renze]

I've noticed, on a four lane highway project on the way to my property, that they don't use scrapers anymore. Hills are dug out using a large track hoe and loaded into large, possibly articulated, dump trucks.

I allways wondered why Americans used scrapers instead of excavators and dumptrucks like we do in Europe... I'm curious about what some construction guys can say about this..

 

[JasG]

As someone said in an earlier post unless rocky or soft ground a scraper can be filled much faster, haul as much or more and spread its load easier than an ADT. A friend of mine was manager for a large earth moving firm and couldn't understand why someone would ADT's if condtions were such that pans could be used. They only used ADT's on job sites that scrapers would get stuck on or rocky or were small.
A few reasons I can think of are if you have ADTs and not scrapers you are going to use what you have. ADT's are a little more versitile than a pan so more contractor have them. Pans are getting harder to move, can't drive them on the roads any more due to weight restrictions. A Cat 631 I have been told the weight on the front axle is around 50000 lbs unloaded. Even with a lowboy you need special permits for over width and pilot truck in front and behind.
In our area, not as many jobs require large volumes of dirt moved so pans almost gone. Most of the jobs are repaving or remodeling a site. Taking a strip mall and demolish a site to put up new.
Pans in a lot of areas need a large dozer to load them, a 631 needs a D8 or D9 to fill it fast.

 

[Scooby074]

In the right ground (soft without large rocks), scrapers can move large volumes of earth, cheaply and quickly. They also excel at grading and sculpting. Due to the difficulty of moving large scrapers around, they usually only go to very large jobs.

Around here, excavation is done with excavators and dump trucks due to the rocky and unpredictable ground conditions from site to site. Given that excavators are not tied into a specific ground type like scrapers, and are much easier to transport, companies choose to spend their money there. Scrapers are really rare here.

A local open pit mine has just bought 2 new Cat 657 scrapers to reclaim and smooth the previous works. They are huge with 44 Yard bowls and can move around 50 Tons at a time. For this job the scraper excels. The ground is rocky but the rocks are small and loose. Perfect conditions for a scraper.

 

[Egon]

Might it have something to do with the low bid and what the low bidder has available for equipment??

There may also be space limitations.

Contract specifications?

And a host of other factors???

 

[john_bud]

They just did a road project here and had a large ex loading dump trucks. Had about 12-15 trucks circling. But they had to dump the dirt about 5 miles away.

At work we had to dig out a hill side for an addition. Had 3 pans moving dirt 300 yards away. That went fast.

jb

 

[Renze]

Around here, excavation is done with excavators and dump trucks due to the rocky and unpredictable ground conditions from site to site. Given that excavators are not tied into a specific ground type like scrapers, and are much easier to transport, companies choose to spend their money there. Scrapers are really rare here.

In Holland, the sea, as well as eroded material drifted in by rivers from the Alps, has formed our country... Speaking of differing ground conditions from jobsite to jobsite..

Plus, we have lots of soft or tough clay soils. I think that explains why i have never seen a real scraper here.

Nonetheless, tractor drawn ejector scrapers are widely used by agricultural contractors to shape and slope farmland towards the drainage ditches. But thats only landscaping, they are never used on construction sites. Wheel loaders are the weapon of choice to do the final digging and profiling of jobsites in Holland. With the bucket as well as with a laser plane.

 

[caver]

I took a picture of the area they are currently working but keep forgetting to load it to my photo site.

 

[dawoodwa]

We will use scrapers if conditions are right, we use 627''s and TS-14's on some jobs if it is a short haul and not a significant cut. The double barrel scrapers work good on lake construction and grading for chicken house pads. On jobs that have deep cuts we will use a mass excavator, usually renting a Komatsu PC450 with a large bucket and short stick and loadout 35 ton trucks. We have used a PC650 with a large bucket and were able to load a 35t truck in 3 passes. I prefer sitting on the excavator than sitting on a scraper and having a dozer giving me whiplash when he falls in to push.

 

[Turkeyman]

My hunt club is in a working rock quarry that is expanding. They estiamte that in 5 yrs they will need to move 26,000,000 cubic yards of overburden. The spoil pile is 1 1/2 miles from the pit and they use 6 CAT 794 mining trucks that hold 45 yds (w/ side boards). They load it with a 385 CAT track hoe and a 8 yard bucket, 5-6 buckets per truck. So far in 9 months they have moved 5% or 1,300,000 cu yds. The dirt pile is 110 ft tall and covers 40 acres (incld dikes and 3 catch ponds). They get about 8 dumps per hr. D-7/8 push the piles and it is very impressive to watch.

 

[caver]

 

[Foton404]

Depends on the job. Scrapers are much better suited for hauling large volumes of dirt. Small jobs are better suited for truck hauling. Large jobs like major highway construction are not conducive to dig and haul. Scrapers can go where trucks can't go. I operated a 631 Cat on an interstate job, it was continuous...load..haul..unload, non-stop. This was a million yard job. It is not reasonable that excavators can dig out and load the same volumes of hard soil such as clay without a laborious time consuming effort. Now they have D-11s that can operate scrapers unassisted for smaller jobs. But trucks can go where scrapers can't go, such as hauling on completed hard surfaced roads, so they each have their place. If you are contracting a 500,000 cubic yard job, you'd go with the heavier equipment.

 

[slowzuki]

I have never seen a pan scraper on a highway project here in NB. Not one.

Dozers, escavators, trucks, graders and compactors are the equipment used.

 

[Egon]

Too much rock.

 

[Renze]

Scrapers can go where trucks can't go.

Here in Holland, most contractors use tractor drawn dumptrailers, because they can employ untrained 16 year old labor. With trucks, they'd have to employ certified truckdrivers, comply to the driving time law (which means that you cant drive for more than 3 hours continuously, and 8 hrs a day, so much break time, and you have to keep the tachograph disks to prove it to the police or labour inspection)
Also because tractor drawn trailers on big tires go where trucks cant go.

Trucks are only used on the long hauls. Even in a village, a truck cant go faster than a tractor because you cant speed up anyways...

 

[Taylortractornut]

We use a Paddle wheel/ elevating scraper a JD 762 for our hauling at the landfill dad an I run. We also have 20 yard converted dumpster for haulinf dirt to but it requires and excavarot or a loader. With the scraper especially the elevator will pulverize the soil and make it easier to spread plus yo ucan lay down layers from 2 inches to 2 feet. Its easier to compact out roads. we only use the truck when the scraper is down or we need 2 unist hauling building up emergency stock piles. The scraper is only 11 or 12 yards but its self loading and the self spreading is the main reason we use it. Plus you can keep you own haul roads dressed with it to.