11.1 General
The equipment used in the precast concrete industry/
construction may be classified into the following categories:
a) Machinery required for quarrying of coarse and fine aggregates;
b) Conveying equipment, such as belt conveyors, chain conveyors, screw conveyors, bucket elevators, hoists, etc;
c) Concrete mixing machines;
d) Concrete vibrating machines;
e) Erection equipment, such as cranes, derricks, hoists, chain pulley blocks, etc;
f) Transport machinery, such as tractor-cum-trailers, dumpers, lorries, locomotives, motor boats and rarely even helicopters;
g) Workshop machinery for making and repairing steel and timber moulds;
h) Bar straightening, bending and welding machines to make reinforcement cages;
j) Minor tools and tackles, such as wheel barrows, concrete buckets, etc; and
k) Steam generation plant for accelerated curing.
In addition to the above, pumps and soil compacting machinery are required at the building site for the execution of civil engineering projects involving prefabricated components.
Each of the above groups may further be classified into various categories of machines and further to various other types depending on the source of power and capacity.