June 29 - September 6
Students should expect to spend 3-5 hours per week on course work.
It is important that the student keep up with the class and not fall behind. Course modules will be made available to students on Sunday of each week. Class work must be completed before the following Monday. Students will not be able to work ahead of the class although reading assignments will be made available in advance and posted in the Critical Course Information.
Construction Equipment and Methods will run from June 29, 2020 – September 6, 2020. The purpose of this Construction Equipment and Methods online course is to give the student an overall understanding of construction equipment and selected construction methods. This includes selection, economy, and productivity of common construction equipment and construction procedures for site development and industrial, heavy and civil construction. The course will introduce students to civil construction plans, determining earthwork quantities, equipment economics and utilization, equipment production rates, fundamentals of earth moving and excavating, loading and hauling equipment.
Class Organization and Grading:
The following table lists the learning modules, the maximum point value a student can receive within each module, and the week in which the modules must be finished.
In each module there are discussions (10 points), homework (10 points), and a quiz (10 points)
Module | Point Value | By end of week |
| Introduction to Construction Equipment | 30 | 1 |
| Equipment Accounting and Acquisition Decisions | 30 | 2 |
| Heavy Construction Blueprint Reading and Estimating | 30 | 3 |
| Fundamentals of Earth moving | 30 | 4 |
| Pushing, Ripping, and Dozing Equipment | 30 | 5 |
| Digging and Hauling Equipment | 30 | 6 |
| Trenching Equipment | 30 | 7 |
| Compressors and Pumps | 30 | 8 |
| Drilling and Blasting Equipment | 30 | 9 |
| Course Review | 30 | 10 |
Total Points: 300
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this class you should be able to:
- Learn how to best utilize construction equipment on site work and heavy civil projects
- Become familiar with construction equipment and their capabilities
- Understand standard designations, sizes, and gradations of equipment
- Properly select heavy equipment based on applications, utilization, productivity, and other factors
- Understand the elements of equipment cost and evaluating investment alternatives
- Develop a basic understanding of unit price and earthwork quantities
- Develop an increased awareness of civil construction blueprints
- Be able to demonstrate awareness of construction safety related to earth moving operations
Participants will be provided with a text book, which includes 140 Large Prints, that they may keep. Text books will be mailed out prior to class starting.
Your instructor will be assigned prior to class depending on which section you are in.
- Josef Alter, Construction Engineering Specialist