Comparison between Nominal and Actual Hourly Production of Crawler-Type Dozer: A Case Study

Abstract

Understanding the discrepancies between the nominal and actual production rate of construction machinery is important in construction projects execution. There are many site factors affecting the actual production rate. This paper presents a case study to understand the discrepancies between the nominal and actual production rates of crawler-type dozer and different main parameters affecting this production. The machinery considered includes different models of Caterpillar and Komatsu crawler-type dozers. The nominal production rates were derived from the two manufacturers. The actual production rates data were from records of actual construction projects. Each machine model was individually considered at project site, and the site conditions were taken into account. Working condition, type of materials, and ground slope are three parameters considered and evaluated for each machine. The distribution of working experience of operators and age group of all models of machine are also provided. The results of statistical analyses on the data and parameters show a) the discrepancies between the actual and nominal hourly production, and b) the importance of each parameter. The results of this study can be useful in planning of machinery and be a great help to the project management team.