Here's a few of the site we're working on in Ct. It's complete chaos at all times with all that's going on. Small parcel of land with several 5 unit condo's being constructed. Us doing the excavation, the concrete crew, the laborers, electricians, mechanical crew, sprinkler system installers, framers. Not to mention the maze of manholes, structures, water shutoffs, catchbasins not to finished grade, etc. The foundation I've been working in, on and around, after getting it stoned for concrete. The Volvo EC290B I ran for a day while the regular guy was out, putting in 8" sewer main. The JD 650H that no one touches except the guy in it...It's equipped with Trimble GPS system. The entire job (and company for that matter,) is dependent upon the GPS system for the entire build of the site. The operator has a monitor inside that basically shows the entire jobsite based on a "model" that someone created on a CAD drawing. All structures, buried lines, elevations, etc. are available on this screen. When using it to grade with, once the operator gets his grade "close", he can hit "automatic" mode and the blade goes up & down by itself; all he does is steer the machine. All points of construction are recorded and located with portable GPS that the foreman walks around with, sets it up and reads whatever he needs to know. Even the concrete foreman utilizes GPS to establish benchmarks, corners, radiuses, steps, finish floor grades, etc. I needed to know the depth of a previously installed sewer lateral. The foreman set his GPS pole up in the vacinity of the sewer main, and within a minute I had the location and depth of the pipe. Pretty stinking neat really... It's a little tough to get used to being from the old school. No one pulls a tape measure out hardly anymore. The GPS pole (tripod) comes out and locates about everything needed to know now. Only downfall; losing the satellite signal in the middle of doing something.:Banghead Trees, buildings, even the satellites becoming alligned in orbit screws the applecart up enough where there's several seasoned, veteran operators and foreman suddenly stopped in their tracks going DUUUHHHH....until the program comes back to life. Almost a shame to see the amount of dependence we are developing with technology these days.
Sat's Intresting pics and info LowBoy. You seem to be enjoying your new life :drinkup Your construction is streets ahead of us in the use and utilisation of satelite technology. Dont get me wrong we have it, and a couple of big road jobs have been done solely utilising sat tech. But general construction and plant have not grasped the benifit yet. The motorway upgrading and widening project I am on at the moment, I see the surveyors with thier Sat poles and hand helds, but not one piece of plant on site is Sat savvy Correction there is a D6K which is Sat savvy but the poles are not on it. There again he is only playing on the tip area Like your use of loaders on site !!!! not seen on a construction site in uk. Unless around a screen or crusher.
The satellite technology I think is an awesome advance, but old-schoolers like me and the two guys in their late 60's are still trying to make heads or tails of it all... I've seen my first GPS systems in Pa. on a big site project on an industrial building project when I was delivering a machine to the site. D-8's with GPS, excavators with the same. Now I'm getting first-hand education on it myself. The head dozer man here, a 50 yr. veteran, was dead set against it at first, but found out he better learn it or retire early. The owner got a kick out of it one day as the operator was getting used to following the screen image. The boss would remove the power wire from the base control station...the dozer would stop dead. replace the wire...dozer moved. Remove wire...dozer stopped. Had a lot of fun till the old codger found out he was getting shagged. we have a D8R and a K with GPS, along with a JD 650H and a Volvo EC290B hoe. As far as loaders are concerned, we have an abundance of them for various tasks. With 2 Cedar Rapids crushers and a Pegson portable, there's plenty for them to do when those are running.A 220 Volvo to a 966, they are used to supply stone to guys like me backfilling pipe, or stoning footing drains by keeping a stoneboat full. Always using them for something.:drinkup
different methods :falldownlaugh Aw man I can just see it. :lmao stop start stop ............. I had never seen a stoneboat till one got mentioned and pic shown in another thread ! We achieve the same with a 9ton dumper, which seem to be as rare to you as thumbs are to us ! I think your method is better in a lot of respects as a shovel can keep a couple of boats serviced, probably supplies pipe on a set of forks etc. We use the dumper for moving the same material as you but have to put a machine with it to load it :Banghead
Hey LowBoy, whereabouts in CT are you working?
Down in Shelton, Stretch.
We have a Terex 15 yd. "dumper" or site truck too, that I refer to as my "motorized stoneboat". I throw a heaping load of material on, and position it under myself so I can pull off of it, and so the loaders can keep it full too. The Volvo loaders have quick-detach for switching buckets to forks, which is great. The Volvo excavators also have quick-couplers, which is priceless.
Thanks...would stop by but Shelton's a bit outta the way for me. Come up I-84 through Southington and a new Target's going up right next to the highway.
Lowboy- You're almost in my neck of the woods. I've seen that job from the road on Bridgeport Ave in shelton, if its the same one i'm thinking of. I was just up that way today in Monroe/Newtown. Blakeman just did a big job right down the street on Bridgeport Ave by the hotel, i think they're still working there. My friend deals with them a lot for materials.
methods Thanks for the feedback LowBoy, seems we achieve the same but by quite different methods. I do like that " stoneboat" idea. You would cry if you say the amount of stone we waste. But the difference is our subbies dont supply the stone/shingle/bedding :beatsme :Banghead
Yeah I see the sign where Blakeman did that project, it's down the road from us.:drinkup