Herbert L. Nichols - Moving The Earth

MOVING THE EARTH

HERBERT L. NICHOLS, JR., devoted most of his business and professional life to earthmoving and heavy equipment. A longtime private consultant, he owned his own excavation and grading business in Connecticut for many years. In addition to his widely translated benchmark work Moving the Earth, he was the author of Excavator Operation, Heavy Equipment Repair, and numerous other books and manuals in the field. He was a member of the American Association of Cost Engineers, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, and the American Welding Society.

DAVID A. DAY P.E., is a consultant with more than 50 years of experience in civil engineering and construction. A graduate of Cornell University and the University of Illinois with a masters degree in construction and structures, he is the author of Construction Equipment Guide. Mr. Day is also a Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, where he helped start the annual Underground Technology Conference (UTC), and a Life Member of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

The Workbook of Excavation

Herbert L. Nichols, Jr.
David A. Day, P.E.

Sixth Edition

Copyright 2010, 2005, 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-164261-3

MHID: 0-07-164261-7

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This sixth edition of the classic book, Moving the Earth, is an update to make it more international, including metric units following English units, and referring to global work and machines. The great value of this excavation workbook has been preserved, as far as possible, since many of the techniques covered in the previous editions have not changed appreciably. Of course, many of those techniques, which were the outgrowth of early tried and true methods, have been modified by modern equipment and machinery.

The new edition introduces many of the latest developments including:

Connected Community with GPS to get design plans distributed promptly

Automatic controls for accuracy in digging and grading

A rock lab and other services to help contractors solve their frequent problems with rock

Special equipment with ability to read the compaction being achieved

Computerized drilling on ground surface for accuracy and speed

Using GPS system to track all business data and deliver it promptly to those who need to know

Equipment Training Simulators for new operators on certain difficult equipment

Use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to eliminate toxic exhaust

Reducing diesel emissions by using grade control products in the machines

Preparation for EPA requirements in the United States to take effect in 2012

Automatic machine calculation of the hydraulic need for given load and lifting situation

New excavator designed specifically for handling pipe laying work

Hybrid electric drive introduced in equipment to save on fuel and parts

Compact skid steer loaders and excavators with faster loading and greater lifting capacity

Determining scraper life and the development of larger towed scrapers;

Introduction of an improved truck suspension system to reduce stress on the operator

Side dumper piece of equipment for special use like a front-end loader

A joystick system replacing the multiple levers for operating a motor grader

Development of horizontal drilling equipment to precisely control on-grade installation

The makes and models of equipment included in the sixth edition are not intended to suggest that they are the best ones to use, but they have been included as giving the best example for the point to be explained. As mentioned with the previous two editions, it has been an honor and challenge to extend the the great value of this book originated by Herbert L. Nichols, Jr. for the benefit of many contractors and others working to move the earth for the advancement of mankind.