---
title: "Equipment for highway and pavement construction"
subject: "Construction Management"
chapter: 4
key: "semester_8/construction_management:highway-pavement-equipment"
source: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_8/construction_management/highway-pavement-equipment
site: BCT Engineering
---

# Equipment for highway and pavement construction

Construction Management · Chapter 4: Familiarization with Construction Equipments

- Asked in: 2073 Bhadra, 4 marks; 2069 Bhadra (old course), 2+6 marks; 2064 Poush (old course) (asked 3 times)
- Video: [Asphalt Paving Operation Training Video - Positions and Equipment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j463RFDu24M) — Asphalt Testing Solutions & Engineering
- Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) on 2026-10-14
- Page: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_8/construction_management/highway-pavement-equipment
- Whole chapter: https://www.bctengineer.com/md/semester_8/construction_management/chapter-4

## Question

Name and discuss the equipment used for highway and pavement construction (earthwork in excavation and pavement), and explain any two of them with sketches.

## Short answer

Highway equipment includes bulldozers, scrapers, graders, rollers, bitumen plants, pavers, and concrete pavers. Motor grader shapes base and sub-base with an adjustable blade. Paver receives hot mix, spreads it with auger, and screed levels and pre-compacts the mat.

## Answer

#### Equipment used
**Earthwork:** bulldozer, scraper, excavator, grader, dump trucks, water tanker.
**Compaction:** smooth-wheel, vibratory and pneumatic rollers.
**Sub-base/base:** grader, aggregate spreader, roller, water tanker.
**Bituminous works:** hot-mix plant, bitumen boiler/heater, bitumen sprayer, paver (finisher), tipper trucks, rollers, chip spreader.
**Concrete pavement:** batching plant, transit mixer, slip-form paver, concrete finisher, vibrators, joint cutter.

#### 1. Motor grader
```text
        cab
      [____]
   (O)--------(O)(O)   blade under the belly
          \__blade__/
```
A six-wheel machine with an adjustable blade under the frame, used for spreading and fine-shaping base and sub-base to the camber and grade, mixing, ditch cutting, and for maintenance of gravel roads.

#### 2. Paver (bituminous finisher)
```text
   truck -> [hopper]--conveyor--[auger]--[screed]
                tracks / wheels      (levels & compacts lightly)
```
The paver receives hot mix from trucks into the hopper, carries it by conveyors to the auger, which spreads it in front of the screed. The screed levels and pre-compacts the mat to the desired thickness, width and camber. It is followed by rollers.

## Check yourself

The answer's key points as multiple-choice questions, with the correct option and why.

1. What is a motor grader used for?
   A. Lifting precast units
   B. Mixing concrete
   C. Spreading and fine-shaping base and sub-base to camber and grade
   D. Heavy rock drilling
   Answer: C. A motor grader shapes base and sub-base to camber and grade. (Key point: Motor grader use)

2. What is the correct flow in a bituminous paver?
   A. Conveyor, screed, hopper
   B. Screed, auger, hopper
   C. Hopper, conveyor, auger, screed
   D. Auger, hopper, screed
   Answer: C. Hot mix goes hopper to conveyor to auger to screed. (Key point: Paver hopper to screed)

3. What does the paver screed do?
   A. Heats the bitumen
   B. Levels and pre-compacts the mat to thickness, width and camber
   C. Cuts joints
   D. Carries the hot mix
   Answer: B. The screed levels and lightly compacts the mat; rollers follow. (Key point: Screed function)

## Related in Construction Management

- [Excavation equipment and sketches](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aexcavation-equipment-sketch) — Construction Management, chapter 4, asked 6×
- [Equipment used in hydropower construction](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Ahydropower-equipment) — Construction Management, chapter 4
- [Earth compaction equipment with sketches](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aearth-compaction-equipment) — Construction Management, chapter 4, asked 3×
- [Advantages and disadvantages of construction equipment](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aequipment-advantages-disadvantages) — Construction Management, chapter 4, asked 6×
- [Factors in selecting construction equipment](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aequipment-selection-factors) — Construction Management, chapter 4, asked 6×
- [Road construction equipment, paver and bitumen sprayer](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aroad-equipment-paver-sprayer) — Construction Management, chapter 4

## Related in other subjects

- [Highway earthwork for one km length](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Festimating_and_costing%3Ahighway-1km-earthwork) — Estimating and Costing, chapter 6
- [Plain CC pavement thickness by IRC, 7 m highway](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftransportation_engineering_ii%3Aplain-cc-pavement-thickness-irc-7m) — Transportation Engineering II, chapter 2
- [Highway maintenance and causes of pavement failure](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftransportation_engineering_ii%3Amaintenance-flexible-failures) — Transportation Engineering II, chapter 4, asked 2×
- [Earthwork excavation in soft soil and hard soil](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_6%2Fbuilding_technology%3Aexcavation-soft-hard-compare) — Building Technology, chapter 2