Before taking on a massive construction project, compaction is an important activity that will take place. This compaction reduces the mass of the soil, ensuring that you do not struggle while building on that surface. You will need a compactor machine to take on any compaction process. The type of compactor machine that you use depends on a lot of factors that range from the type of project, soil, budget and many things. Soil compaction is a critical process that requires all attention possible. If you make a mistake with the soil compaction procedure, the whole construction process will either be a struggle or be bad. This article will guide you on the right steps to pick a compactor machine.
Consider the option of compactors
There are different types of compactors differentiated by a variety of factors. Broadly, we have the roller and the hydraulic class of compactors. The roller compactor rolls its weight on the soil to ensure it compacts while the hydraulics depends on strength. However, for a specific classification of compactors, we have the following options;
- Compactor with vibrations: The compactor uses vibrations to shake up the materials and compact them with a reduced friction. While the machine is vibrating, the soil shakes and particles fall closely quickly. These compactor types can be used with different applications.
- Compactor with static linear load: The static compactors rely on their linear weight to ensure compaction in the soil. These compactors will work well even when the terrain isn’t even.
- Compactor for heavy applications: These compactors have different pads in their system to ensure deep strength combining with the weight to give a deep compaction.
Compactor with intelicompacrion feature
Compactor for rough terrain applications
Identify the soil type
After understanding the different types of compactor machines, you need to understand the soil type you are dealing with. It may not exactly be soil you are compacting; in some cases, you will need to compact a bit of rock. Some of the soil you will need to compact include, cohesive soil, landfill, granular soils, amongst others. The cohesive and granular soils are the most common ones that will require compaction. The cohesive requires the vibratory compaction, while the granular will need the impact compactor.
After determining the soil type, ensure you determine how wide the place is. This information will give a perfect idea of the type of compactor machine to use.
Consider site conditions
Your site conditions include how much space you have. You can’t bring certain sizes of compactors to a small site. Inversely, on some other sites, using the small sizes of compactor will mean almost double of the work necessary. You need to always consider the amount of material you’re compacting and space you have to choose.
Conclusion
Compacting is an important part of building, so you need to understand it before you compact. It is not about having the biggest or smallest compacting machine, it is about having that machine that can do the work required of it. As we have highlighted in this guide, there are many factors to consider when choosing a compactor machine. However, if you consider the factors discussed above, you will most likely have the right compactor.
