1.    What is civil engineering equipment?

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and natural built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings.

Thus civil engineering equipment is the equipment used to execute these designs, constructions and maintanance. E.g. Cranes, Batch Plants, Dumpers, Concrete Mixers, Construction & Mining Trucks, Skid Steer Loaders, TLB’s, etc.

2.    What is earthmoving equipment?

3.    What is a crane?

A crane is a mechanical lifting device equipped with a winder, wire ropes and sheaves that can be used both to lift and lower materials and move them horizontally.

It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantages and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of a human.

Cranes are used for loading and unloading of freight, movement of materials and assembling of heavy equipment.

Lifting Capacity

• The lever. A balance crane contains a horizontal beam (the lever) pivoted about a point called the fulcrum. The principle of the lever allows a heavy load attached to the shorter end of the beam to be lifted by a smaller force applied in the opposite direction to the longer end of the beam. The ratio of the load’s weight to the applied force is equal to the ratio of the lengths of the longer arm, and is called the mechanical advantage.
• The pulley. A jib crane contains a tilted strut (the jib0 that supports a fixed pulley block. Cables are wrapped multiple times round the fixed block and round another block attached to the load. When the free end of the cable is pulled by hand or by a winding machine, the pulley system delivers a force to the load that is equal to the applied force multiplied by the number of lengths of cables passing between the two blocks. This number is the mechanical advantage.
•  The hydraulic cylinder. This can be used directly to lift the load or indirectly to move the jib or beam that carries another lifting device.
  
  

There are different types of cranes, the most common are:

• Mobile Cranes
• Telescopic Cranes
• Tower Cranes
• Hammer Head Cranes
• Rough terrain cranes
• Gantry Cranes
• Crawler Cranes
• Overhead Cranes

4.    What are the different types of cranes and what are the used for?

Mobile Cranes

The most basic type of mobile crane consists of a steel truss or telescopic boom mounted on a mobile platform, which may be rail, wheeled or caterpillar tracks. The boom is hinged at the bottom and can be raised and lowered by cables or by hydraulic cylinders. A hook is suspended from the top of the boom by wire ropes are operated by whatever prime movers the designers have available, operating through a variety of transmissions. Steam engines, electric motors and internal combustion engines (IC) have all been used. The operational advantages of this arrangement can now be achieved by electronic control of hydrostatic drives, which for size and other considerations is becoming standard. Some examples of this type of crane can be converted to a demolition crane by adding and demolition ball or to an earthmover by adding a clamshell bucket or dragline and scoop, although design details can limit their effectiveness. To increase the horizontal reach of the hoist, the boom may be extended by adding a jib to the top. The jib can be fixed or, in more complex cranes, luffing (that is, able to be raised and lowered). Uses

Telescopic Cranes

A telescopic crane has a boom that consists of a number of tubes fitted one inside the other. A hydraulic or other powered mechanism extends or retracts the tubes to increase or decrease the total length of the boom. These types of booms are often used for short term construction projects, rescue jobs, lifting boats in and out of water, etc. The relative compactness of the telescopic booms makes them adaptable for many mobile applications.

Tower Cranes

The tower crane is a modern form of balance crane. Fixed to the ground (or” jacked up” and supported by the structure as the structure is being built), tower cranes often give the best combination of height and lifting capacity and are used in the construction of tall buildings. To save space and to provide stability the vertical part of the crane is often braced onto the completed structure which is normally the concrete lift shaft in the centre if the building. A horizontal boom is balanced asymmetrically across the top of the tower. Its short arm carries a counterweight of concrete blocks, and its long arm carries the lifting gear. The crane operator either sits in a cabin at the top of the tower or controls the crane by radio remote control from the ground. The boom is mounted on a slewing bearing and is rotated by means of a slewing motor. The lifting hook is operated by a system of sheaves.

Truck-mounted Cranes

A crane mounted on a truck carrier provides the mobility for this type of crane. Generally, these cranes are designed to be able to travel on streets and highways, eliminating the need for special equipment to transport a crane to the jobsite. When working on the jobsite, outriggers are extended horizontally from the chassis then down vertically to level and stabilize the crane while stationary and hoisting. Many truck cranes posses limited slow-traveling capability (just a few mile per hour) while suspending a load.

Hammerhead Cranes

The hammerhead, or giant cantilever, crane is a fixed-jib crane consisting of a steel-braced tower on which revolves a large, horizontal, double cantilever; the forward part of this cantilever or jib carries the lifting trolley. The jib is extended backwards in order to form a support for the machinery and counter-balancing weight. In addition to the motion of lifting and revolving, there is provided a so-called “racking” motion, by which the lifting trolley, with the load suspended, can be moved in and out along the jib without altering the level of the load. Such horizontal movement of the load is a marked feature of later crane design. Hammerhead cranes are generally constructed in large sizes, up to 350 tons.

Rough terrain cranes

A crane mounted on an undercarriage with four rubber tires that is designed for pick-and-carry operations and for off-road and “rough terrain” applications. Outriggers that extend horizontally and vertically are used to level and stabilize the crane for hoisting. These telescopic cranes are single-engine machines where the same engine is used for powering the undercarriage as is used for powering the crane, similar to a crawler crane. However, in a rough terrain crane, the engine is usually mounted in the undercarriage rather than in the upper, like the crawler crane.

Gantry Cranes

A gantry crane has a hoist and a trolley which runs horizontally along gantry rails, usually fitted underneath a beam spanning between uprights which themselves have wheels so that the whole crane can move at right angles to the direction of the gantry rails. These cranes come in all sizes and some can move very heavy loads, particularly the extremely large examples used in shipyards or industrial installations.

Overhead Cranes

Also known as a “suspended crane”, this type of crane works in the same way as a gantry crane but without uprights. The hoist is on a trolley which moves in one direction along one or two beams, which move at right angles to that direction along elevated tracks, often mounted along the side walls of an assembly area in a factory. Some of them can lift very heavy loads.  

5. What is a concrete batch plants?

Concrete plant, also known as a Batch Plant, is a device that combines various ingredients to form concrete. Some of these inputs include sand, water, aggregate (rocks, gravel, etc)