count. In earthmoving operations, travel can betime-consuming. Suppose you are operating a12-cubic-yard scraper. It will carry about a15-cubic-yard heaped load. If you carry only a struck(level) load of 12 cubic yards, you lose 3 cubic yardsof load each trip. To move 60 cubic yards takes fivetrips when only 12 cubic yards are hauled each time.Hauling full, heaped loads, you would move the sameamount of material in four trips. If your haul is shortand units are waiting to go into the cut, you canincrease production by taking only a good load(somewhere between struck and heaped) and movingout, rather than spending extra time obtaining a heapedload.On most construction jobs, both cuts and fills arerequired. To increase job efficiency, plan your job sothat the material taken from a cut is used in a fill area.This is known as balancing the material.PIONEERINGPioneering refers to the first working over of anarea that is overgrown or rough and making that areaaccessible for the equipment needed for the project.In pioneering, the operations of clearing,stripping, grading, and drainage are all donepractically at the same time, rather than performed asseparate operations. A dozer starts out along apredetermined route and leaves a road behind it. Thismay be a haul road on which trucks and equipmentwill use in later operations.Suppose you, as a dozer operator, get the job ofcutting a road on the side of a mountain to be used foraccess to a proposed airstrip or to reach a mountainstream to be developed into a water supply system.Where should you start and how should you proceed?The route your mountain road is to follow will bestaked out by a survey party. You should start yourroad at the highest point possible and let the force ofgravity help the dozer.In clearing on sidehill cuts, brush and trees shouldbe cast far enough to the side of the road so that theywill not be covered with the earth. It is even better ifyou can cast them over the edge with an angle bladeof the dozer when the road is cut. When cutting theroad, do not watch the grade stake immediately aheador you will find yourself below grade. Instead, watchthe third or fourth stake down.NOTE: It is better to be above grade and comeback and cut down to grade than to be below grade andhave to come back and fill.CLEARINGClearing is a construction operation consisting ofcleaning a designated area of trees, timber, brush,other vegetation, and rubbish; removing surfaceboulders and other material embedded in the ground;and disposing of all material cleared.Clearing, grubbing, and stripping are different inevery climatic zone, because each has different typesof forests and vegetation. The nature of a forest can bedetermined from records of the principal climaticfactors, including precipitation, humidity,temperature, sunlight, and the direction of prevailingwinds. The types of forests can be generally classifiedas temperate, rain, monsoon, or dry, according to theclimates in which they exist.Clearing usually consists of pushing uprootedtrees, stumps, and brush in both directions from thecenter of the area to be cleared. Clearing should beaccomplished so that debris (spoil material) is placedin a designated spot with only one handling. Inclearing landing strips, for example, it is generallynecessary to dispose of material along each side of thestrip outside the construction site. If the site permitsburning, the haul distance can be reduced by pilingbrush, stumps, and trees on the site and burning them.Production in this field must be estimated, rather thancalculated.GRUBBINGGrubbing consists of uprooting and removingroots and stumps. In grubbing, stumps that are difficultor impossible to pull out, even with winches, shouldbe burned or blasted. Your supervisor will decide themethod. If the stumps are to be removed by blasting,a qualified blaster must be called upon to do the job.If they are to be burned, you may be assigned the task.Green stumps require continuous application of heatbefore they catch fire. Check with your supervisorabout safety measures that should keep the fire fromgetting out of control if you have to do any stumpburning. Remember that it may take as long as 3 or 4days for a stump to burn out. Keep a check on theburning during this period. If a project has a highpriority and time must be saved, stumps will probablybe blasted, rather than burned. When stumps have—15-39-rIz
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