Paving Tools

Excavator

• The excavator prepares land for paving by performing initial clearing, trenching, digging and leveling. Like a backhoe, the excavator's primary tool is an arm-mounted bucket. The bucket plunges into the earth, scoops up soil and boulder and lifts and removes material. Hydraulics power the movement of the excavator's arm and an internal combustion engine powers the movement of the machine's wheels. Most excavators move across the land on large, tank-like tracks.

Grader

• Graders, sometimes referred to as "blades," push, scrape and pull soil to create a flat surface. As the nickname "blade" implies, the primary tool of this machine is a broad, straight-edged blade. Like a farmer's tractor, this heavy-duty machine tows and pushes the blade across the ground to smooth the earth's surface and form a base for the paving operation. Graders typically perform "finish" grading, a term that refers to precise shaping and angling of a surface, such as sloping or curving a paving project's base.

Dump Truck

• Paving operations require a dump truck to transport loads of asphalt mix from the processing plant to the work site. Additionally, a dump truck's movable bucket deposits asphalt mix directly into an asphalt distribution machine called a "paver."

Paver

• The paver, also called a "paving machine," receives asphalt mix from a dump truck, heats the mix and distributes the mix in an even layer across the ground. Like the excavator, this tool rolls along on a set of tank-like tracks. The paver consists of two basic parts: an operator's cockpit and a large, box-like container. Asphalt falls through a hatch in the container, meets a typically propane heating element and falls out the bottom of a second hatch onto the ground. Once on the ground, a plate or blade roughly shapes the hot asphalt.

Roller

• Following distribution and rough shaping by the paver, the roller performs the final shaping and tamping of the hot asphalt. The most basic type of roller looks like a small tractor mounted atop of humongous rolling pins. The large, metal rolling pins function both as a pressing and tamping device and wheels for the machine.