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What Machines are Used for Road Construction?

Everyone has come across some road construction in their lives, whether it caused a major traffic delay, tore up your street for a few weeks, or even forced you to find a new route to work. With the current nearly country-wide shut down and far fewer cars on the road, many local areas are doing more construction than ever. When driving by a road construction site, there are many machines you might see, but you might not know what they’re called or what purpose they serve. Check out this guide which sets out to answer the question: what machines are used for road construction?

Road roller

Road rollers are the large machines you see when a road is nearly completed. It has a large cylinder attached to a cabin where an operator can sit. Road rovers are used to push down the freshly laid asphalt to ensure the road is sturdy and smooth on the surface. They run over the soil or gravel prior to asphalt being laid and prepare the ground for the asphalt. While there are different types of road rollers, all look quite similar and are often seen near the end of a road paving or repaving project.

Excavator

Excavators are among the most common pieces of construction equipment across all types of construction sites, including road construction. There are many different kinds of excavators that all look quite different from each other. There are large excavators mainly used in major underwater constructions or next to water constructions that are rare to see. In addition, there are excavators that are common to see on building constructions that help to dig the holes to lay the foundation for new construction. There are also mini excavators, which are used in road construction to move materials from one side of the site to another and dig out spaces.

Asphalt mixing plant

An asphalt mixing plant is typically only found on road construction sites. They are large trucks that spin to keep the asphalt and concrete hybrid mixture from solidifying before it spreads. These trucks typically are heated so that the mixture stays hot, which makes it easy to apply and spread on the road. These are typically seen in the middle or end of a road construction or repaving project and are only brought out on days where asphalt needs to be poured. These are often seen at the same time as road rollers.

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Written by Logan Voss

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