Road Construction

It's another road construction contract, so they truck the heavy equipment they'll need for the project into the site the night before they're due to start the job. And to do that, you'll need to start with a semi truck and a heavy duty flatbed trailer.

In case they need to dig up some culvert pipe, they have to have a big digger present. Here they're unloading the excavator.

This is the vehicle that will be doing the actual spreading of the asphalt. Oddly enough, it's known as an asphalt paver.

And of course, you'll need a heavy steam roller or two!

The heavy metal machinery is starting to build up.

And to pour those shiny white concrete storm drains, a huge cement mixer will come in very handy.

This is the bosses' truck. He's always moving around keeping an eye on everything. He gives the command to start paving the road!

The first load of fresh asphalt arrives and is loaded into the paver.

Gotta lift that bed high to get it all out!

You can see it goes right into the hopper of the asphalt paver.

The boss moves around a lot. He has to stay on top of everything and keep the job running smoothly.

Here is a close-up of the asphalt paver.

Once the paver goes through, the rollers follow.

It is these lumbering dinosaurs of the heavy equipment world which smash down the freshly-laid asphalt into a nice, smooth roadway.

Another load of asphalt is used up. A job such as this uses a lot of it!

Sometimes, you need a little asphalt to fill in a few areas along the edge of the road. Such as mailbox turnoffs, driveway entrances and side streets. This is where a front loader comes in handy.

The crew keeps moving right along until the job's finished.

And when the job is done, the boss looks on and says it's time to go to the next job - wherever that may be.