  
Pipeline contracting can be rewarding work and a profitable sideline for any excavation contractor. But not everyone who owns a backhoe is ready to start bidding water, sewer and drainage jobs. This practical manual can help you develop the skills needed to succeed as an underground utility contractor.
Learn how to read plans and compute quantities for both trench and surface excavation, figure crew and equipment productivity rates, estimate unit costs, bid the work, and get the bonds you need.
Pipe & Excavation Contracting explains what equipment will deliver maximum productivity for a job, how to lay all types of water and sewer pipe, and how to switch your business to excavation work when you don't have pipe contracts.
This book covers asphalt and rock removal, working on steep slopes or in high groundwater, and how to avoid the pitfalls that can wipe out your profits on any job.
Information covered includes:
Getting the Job:
- Finding work you should bid
- Dealing with the contracting authority
- Reading plans and computing quantities (for both trench and surface excavation)
- Figuring realistic crew and equipment productivity rates (cycle times)
- Estimating unit costs
- Bidding rock work
- Adding your overhead and profit
- Keeping the errors out
- Getting the bonds you need
A complete sample estimate is included for your reference.
Doing the Work:
- Following the surveyor's reference stakes
- Checking grade and line with an optical level
- Transit and pipe laser
- Clearing the site
- The best ways to remove asphalt and rock (with splitters and explosives)
- The best ways to handle steep slopes or high groundwater (including dewatering)
Separate chapters explain how to install all common types of water and sewer pipe.
How to choose the right equipment and use it to your best advantage:
- Track and wheel backhoes
- Loaders
- Dozers
- Graders
- Scrapers
- Trucks
- Compactors
- Shoring
- Trench boxes
This book is filled with pictures, drawings, charts, checklists and examples to help you build a career as a successful pipeline contractor.
Table of Contents:
1 ESTIMATING, BIDDING, BONDING, 5
- Nature of the Business, 9
- Knowing Your Costs, 15
- Estimating Labor Costs, 18
- Estimating Material Costs, 21
- Overhead, 22
- Contingency and Escalation, 28
- Avoiding and Finding Errors, 38
- Submitting Your Bid, 40
- Controlling Costs, 50
- Getting Bonds, 52
- Here's Your Bonding Checklist, 67
2 CREW AND EQUIPMENT PRODUCTIVITY, 70
- Volume of Material, 71
- Equipment Performance, 73
- Wheeled Backhoe, 81
- Tracked Excavator, 84
- Wheeled Loader, 85
- Bulldozer, 88
- Compaction Equipment, 93
- Comparing Crew and Equipment Costs, 95
3 READING PLANS AND SURVEYING, 107
- Reading Plans, 108
- Surveying, 111
- Surveying Instruments, 115
- Grades or Slopes in Pipe Laying, 120
- Laying Pipe with Lasers, 124
4 SITE PREPARATION, 139
- Working Within the Right-of-Way, 139
- Clearing Grass and Brush, 142
- Clearing Trees, 142
- Planning the Work, 152
- Dealing with Rock, 154
- Using Explosives, 159
- Working with Groundwater, 164
5 OPERATING A BACKHOE 173
- How the Backhoe Works, 174
- Calculating Production Rates, 179
- Operator Ability, 181
- The Wheeled Backhoe, 183
- Working Around Cross-Lines, 187
- Sewer System Work, 193
- Water System Work, 194
- The Tracked Backhoe, 203
- When to Choose the Tracked Backhoe, 206
- Working with Shoring Systems, 214
6 SOIL COMPACTION, 222
- Soil Structure, 222
- Determining Soil Density, 223
- Compaction Methods, 228
7 INSTALLING WATER SYSTEMS, 235
- Main Line Materials, 238
- Service Line Materials, 247
- Selecting Equipment, 259
- Forming a Crew, 261
- Installing the Service Lines, 267
- Testing the Line, 276
8 INSTALLING SEWER SYSTEMS, 279
- Municipal Sewer Systems, 280
- Pipe Materials, 281
- Fittings, 286
- Selecting Equipment, 291
- Forming a Productive Crew, 294
- Selecting a Shoring System, 296
- Digging Trenches, 304
- Cutting the Pipe, 311
- Laying the Pipe, 314
- Assembling the Pipe, 316
- Aligning the Pipe, 319
- Installing Manholes, 324
- Testing the System, 328
9 ESTIMATING SURFACE EXCAVATION, 336
- Averaging in Estimating Earthwork, 343
- Balancing Cut and Fill, 346
- Reading Contour Lines, 349
- The Grid System, 352
- Minimize the Risks, 357
10 EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURES, 362
- Equipment Selection, 362
- Operating a Dozer, 365
- Dozing Skills, 370
- Reading Slope Stakes, 378
- Estimating Production, 380
- Sample Earth Moving Problem, 388
- Another Sample Problem: Cut and Fill, 392
INDEX, 396
The Author: Dave Roberts has been in heavy construction for over twenty years. He has worked as a laborer/pipe layer and heavy-equipment operator for several companies, later moving into positions as estimator and superintendent. An acknowledged expert on heavy equipment operation, his reviews of new construction equipment and articles on excavation work have been published by several heavy construction magazines. He now operates his own heavy construction contracting company, working on projects in the northwestern states.
Includes: Book
By: Dave Roberts
400 Pages, 5-1/2 x 8-1/2
ISBN: 0-934041-22-9
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