Introduction to Infrastructure: An Introduction to Civil and Environmental Engineering

Chapter Six

Construction Sites

Chapter Outline

• Introduction
• Security
• Staging Areas
• Equipment
• Utilities
• Erosion Control
• Outro

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Describe the security and staging needs of a construction site.
2. Identify and describe the functions of various types of construction equipment.
3. Describe various erosion control techniques.

Introduction

Many engineers not only design infrastructure components and systems, but also supervise construction of their designs. This chapter will describe some aspects of the construction of the infrastructure components presented in Chapters 3, 4, and 5. Successful and efficient construction requires significant planning efforts, which will be discussed in later chapters. Construction engineers are responsible for construction site layouts, equipment specification, scheduling, and erosion control.

Security

Securing a construction site is important for public safety and to protect contractor equipment from theft and vandalism. Fencing with locked gates is typically needed at a minimum. At remote sites without fencing, valuable tools are often hoisted and stored suspended from cranes in tool boxes. Surveillance cameras are also used. Checkpoints for vehicles entering the site are common.

Staging Areas

In general, the size of the staging area is proportional to the size of the project (Figure ...