count.  In  earthmoving  operations,  travel  can  be time-consuming.   Suppose   you   are   operating   a 12-cubic-yard   scraper.   It   will   carry   about   a 15-cubic-yard  heaped  load.  If  you  carry  only  a  struck (level) load of 12 cubic yards, you lose 3 cubic yards of load each trip. To move 60 cubic yards takes five trips  when  only  12  cubic  yards  are  hauled  each  time. Hauling full, heaped loads, you would move the same amount of material in four trips. If your haul is short and  units  are  waiting  to  go  into  the  cut,  you  can increase   production   by   taking   only   a   good   load (somewhere  between  struck  and  heaped)  and  moving out, rather than spending extra time obtaining a heaped load. On  most  construction  jobs,  both  cuts  and  fills  are required. To increase job efficiency, plan your job so that the material taken from a cut is used in a fill area. This is known as balancing  the  material. PIONEERING Pioneering refers to the first working over of an area that is overgrown or rough and making that area accessible  for  the  equipment  needed  for  the  project. In  pioneering,  the  operations  of  clearing, stripping,   grading,   and   drainage   are   all   done practically at the same time, rather than performed as separate  operations.  A  dozer  starts  out  along  a predetermined route and leaves a road behind it. This may be a haul road on which trucks and equipment will use in later operations. Suppose you, as a dozer operator, get the job of cutting a road on the side of a mountain to be used for access to a proposed airstrip or to reach a mountain stream 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  be staked out by a survey party. You should start your road at the highest point possible and let the force of gravity help the dozer. In clearing on sidehill cuts, brush and trees should be cast far enough to the side of the road so that they will not be covered with the earth. It is even better if you can cast them over the edge with an angle blade of the dozer when the road is cut. When cutting the road, do not watch the grade stake immediately ahead or you will find yourself below grade. Instead, watch the third or fourth stake down. NOTE: It is better to be above grade and come back and cut down to grade than to be below grade and have to come back and fill. CLEARING Clearing is a construction operation consisting of cleaning  a  designated  area  of  trees,  timber,  brush, other   vegetation,   and   rubbish;   removing   surface boulders  and  other  material  embedded  in  the  ground; and  disposing  of  all  material  cleared. Clearing,  grubbing,  and  stripping  are  different  in every  climatic  zone,  because  each  has  different  types of forests and vegetation. The nature of a forest can be determined  from  records  of  the  principal  climatic factors,  including  precipitation,  humidity, temperature,  sunlight,  and  the  direction  of  prevailing winds. The types of forests can be generally classified as  temperate,  rain,  monsoon,  or  dry,  according  to  the climates  in  which  they  exist. Clearing  usually  consists  of  pushing  uprooted trees, stumps, and brush in both directions from the center of the area to be cleared. Clearing should be accomplished  so  that  debris  (spoil  material)  is  placed in  a  designated  spot  with  only  one  handling.  In clearing landing strips, for example, it is generally necessary to dispose of material along each side of the strip  outside  the  construction  site.  If  the  site  permits burning, the haul distance can be reduced by piling brush, stumps, and trees on the site and burning them. Production in this field must be estimated, rather than calculated. GRUBBING Grubbing  consists  of  uprooting  and  removing roots and stumps. In grubbing, stumps that are difficult or impossible to pull out, even with winches, should be  burned  or  blasted.  Your  supervisor  will  decide  the method. 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  heat before  they  catch  fire.  Check  with  your  supervisor about  safety  measures  that  should  keep  the  fire  from getting  out  of  control  if  you  have  to  do  any  stump burning. Remember that it may take as long as 3 or 4 days for a stump to burn out. Keep a check on the burning  during  this  period.  If  a  project  has  a  high priority and time must be saved, stumps will probably be blasted, rather than burned. When stumps have — 15-39 -rIz