Pipe & Excavation Contracting
Table of Contents

Introduction | Preview A Chapter | Back Cover

1 ESTIMATING, BIDDING, BONDING, 5
     Nature of the Business, 9
     Knowing Your Costs, 15
     Estimating Labor Costs, 18
     Estimating Material Costs, 21
     Overhead, 22
     Contingency and Escalation, 28
     Avoiding and Finding Errors, 38
     Submitting Your Bid, 40
     Controlling Costs, 50
     Getting Bonds, 52
     Here's Your Bonding Checklist, 67

2 CREW AND EQUIPMENT PRODUCTIVITY, 70
     Volume of Material, 71
     Equipment Performance, 73
     Wheeled Backhoe, 81
     Tracked Excavator, 84
     Wheeled Loader, 85
     Bulldozer, 88
     Compaction Equipment, 93
     Comparing Crew and Equipment Costs, 95

3 READING PLANS AND SURVEYING, 107
     Reading Plans, 108
     Surveying, 111
     Surveying Instruments, 115
     Grades or Slopes in Pipe Laying, 120
     Laying Pipe with Lasers, 124

4 SITE PREPARATION, 139
     Working Within the Right-of-Way, 139
     Clearing Grass and Brush, 142
     Clearing Trees, 142
     Planning the Work, 152
     Dealing with Rock, 154
     Using Explosives, 159
     Working with Groundwater, 164

5 OPERATING A BACKHOE 173
     How the Backhoe Works, 174
     Calculating Production Rates, 179
     Operator Ability, 181
     The Wheeled Backhoe, 183
     Working Around Cross-Lines, 187
     Sewer System Work, 193
     Water System Work, 194
     The Tracked Backhoe, 203
     When to Choose the Tracked Backhoe, 206
     Working with Shoring Systems, 214

6 SOIL COMPACTION, 222
     Soil Structure, 222
     Determining Soil Density, 223
     Compaction Methods, 228

7 INSTALLING WATER SYSTEMS, 235
     Main Line Materials, 238
     Service Line Materials, 247
     Selecting Equipment, 259
     Forming a Crew, 261
     Installing the Service Lines, 267
     Testing the Line, 276
8 INSTALLING SEWER SYSTEMS, 279

     Municipal Sewer Systems, 280
     Pipe Materials, 281
     Fittings, 286
     Selecting Equipment, 291
     Forming a Productive Crew, 294
     Selecting a Shoring System, 296
     Digging Trenches, 304
     Cutting the Pipe, 311
     Laying the Pipe, 314
     Assembling the Pipe, 316
     Aligning the Pipe, 319
     Installing Manholes, 324
     Testing the System, 328

9 ESTIMATING SURFACE EXCAVATION, 336
     Averaging in Estimating Earthwork, 343
     Balancing Cut and Fill, 346
     Reading Contour Lines, 349
     The Grid System, 352
     Minimize the Risks, 357

10 EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURES, 362
     Equipment Selection, 362
     Operating a Dozer, 365
     Dozing Skills, 370
     Reading Slope Stakes, 378
     Estimating Production, 380
     Sample Earth Moving Problem, 388
     Another Sample Problem: Cut and Fill, 392

INDEX, 396

Introduction | Preview A Chapter | Back Cover