Before building a road, a parking lot or a highway, the contractors carefully create a plan in which they include details about the slope and the elevation. The unique process of leveling an area before building is called grading excavation. The grading excavation ensures that the ground has appropriate slope for high erosion control. The grading excavation process requires large heavy equipment like graders, tractors and similar excavating tools in order to create a well-graded area.
Graders are types of construction machines that feature long blades for creating a firm and flat surface. Usually, the graders have three axles, a powerful engine and a cabin mounted at the rear end, but there are many graders on the market and they all differ in terms of their capabilities. However, every construction company builds roads in a specific way, and uses specific techniques and graders. In the past, the grading excavation was performed by using leveling sticks, grade rods (simple measuring devices) and survey equipment. But today, the graders are the main machines which are used for grading operations.
Grading excavation is not a simple process. It requires special training and experience. The process includes measuring the amount of ground that needs to be removed from specific location by using measurement devices and markers. Once it is all set and done, the operators are free to begin with the grading operations.
The grading operators are responsible for the grading excavations, and they need to be qualified and experienced in order to run graders. Most graders use blades which are positioned between the front and rear axles of the unit, enabling the grading operators to shave the dirt to a specific measurement from the surface, creating this way a well-graded area. However, driving a grader requires special operator training, because the graders represent a threat for the novice operators.
Building a road depends on a proper design and on well-performed grading excavation as well. Generally, the building process starts with removing the trees and the shrub and then the graders come to the site to do their job. Before adding additional materials to the surface, the road must be well graded to a specific level so that some flooding issues can be eliminated.
