Construction site vehicles 3

What is a container actually? We'll deal with this expression comprehensively. Private people may one day, find themselves in a situation where they have large amounts to dispose of. It's a great deal more comfortable, if one of these boxes is deposited is deposited in front of the house and one has all the time in the world to fill it up.

Another advantage is, that one is working almost at ground level. Even the floor-height of a pick-up truck is quite considerable and the height of a tipper is even greater, particularly if it's a removable dumper. Imagine what it would cost if one had to have the whole truck standing still for a longer period of time.

Perhaps one could profit from an open container that can be loaded with a wheelbarrow. There is now however, the possibility of having the container closer to the working area, e.g., on the other side of a garden wall or fence. An additional advantage: If it is intended for the disposal of rubble, one can be relatively sure, that when it's dark, others won't throw rubbish in to it.

Containers are a simple but ingenious invention. Just imagine, a modern container-ship would have to, albeit with the help from machines, load each piece of cargo individually. Unthinkable, alone because of the downtimes and the port- and harbour charges. The best part of it all, is that they can simply be lowered onto the respective railway flatbed- wagon or onto the trailer of the towing vehicle.

To get back to construction sites: In the past, one had to have, or had to borrow, a motor car trailer if e.g., one needed a cubic meter of sand or gravel, to lay a footpath. Nowadays, this can be ordered and delivered in a sort of stable sack. The advantage of this method is, one can process the contents in one's time and then return the empty sack to the supplier.

The palette, another very simple construction, must also be included in the subject of modernisation. The forklift slides it's prongs under the platform and in one go, 30 sacks of cement can be transported, not only to a truck's loading bed, but also into a delivery vehicle. Did you know, that the palette is also important for the air-circulation in cold-storage areas?

We've probably already mentioned, that there are tiltable open containers. What we haven't said, is that they can also be stacked in a space-saving manner. Thus, a truck with an accordingly long trailer, can transport three full containers and six empty ones. Only the unloading, with help from the hydraulics, is sometimes awkward.

Did you know that there are cement-mixers for minor demands? They carry the pre-mixed cement mortar. This can also be transported in a motor car. It can be had in amounts as small as 25 kg. Ready-mixed is also that which is found in silos. These are not the ones which are permanently fixed on the trailer and which are raised fearfully high when dumping, but rather those which are placed on the building site in containers.

The list would be hopelessly incomplete, if we never mentioned the pre-fabricated elements. Probably the best known examples are the respective garages. They are delivered complete with doors and if required, also with windows. Barracks-like settlements can develop, but also luxurious pre-fabricated houses. Indeed, for quite some time now, the factories have expanded to encompass the production of almost any pre- fabricated elements.

Here's another advantage: One can't always rely on the winter. Sometimes it snows a lot and sometimes hardly at all. Imagine the cost of having an expensive fleet of spreader-trucks always ready at hand. You will certainly be familiar with snowploughs (picture 1) or the snow-blower, which are mounted onto the front of the vehicle. Indeed, at the rear one is now also flexible by having changeable containers at the rear for road- salt or gravel. In a relatively short time, one can adapt a truck, which is normally used for other purposes. 11/14