Conducting road construction work in most cases is associated with the use of heavy specialized machinery and complex equipment, but when performing small-scale tasks their use is irrational and leads to an unjustified increase in costs, so the simplest hand tools are used.
Such tools are represented by a wide range of specialized narrow-profile devices, each of which has a specific purpose, specifics of use, and design characteristics.
Mobile and easy-to-carry hand tools are an essential part of the equipment of teams engaged in the construction, repair, and maintenance of road pavement.
The main tasks that are solved with the help of hand tools:
- Transporting small amounts of asphalt mixture to the place of work.
- Caulking road joints.
- The casting of cracks.
- Compaction of soil during patching repairs, and asphalting small areas during landscaping works.
- Leveling of sand and crushed stone, as well as smoothing of the fresh road surface.
- Hand tools for road works are often used not only for small tasks but also in tight spaces, where it is difficult or impossible to organize access to oversized equipment.
Advantages of using manual road tools
All handheld-type tools used in road works have a number of important advantages:
Affordability
The joint filler, hand rammer, and other devices are much more attractively priced than mechanized equipment for the same purpose.
Compact
Low weight and compact dimensions. Due to its small size, the tool does not present any particular difficulties in organizing storage and transportation, and it can be moved between construction sites with minimal effort, preventing downtime.
Easy to use
Each type of attachment is designed specifically for the task at hand, ensuring a high level of ease of use. And thanks to their low weight, workers can work for long hours without getting tired too quickly.
Intuitive
Can be used without complicated training. Manual road construction tools do not place high demands on the qualifications of the worker: it is enough to demonstrate the principle of operation once.
Versatility
The versatility of application, in which the tool can be used in the arrangement of the roadway, in tiling, paving sidewalks, in various landscaping works, and in many other areas.
Reliability
Providing treatment of hard-to-reach areas, where it is impossible to apply heavy road machinery or equipment, as well as a high level of durability and reliability, ensuring a long service life.
Disadvantages of the Hand-Held Road Tool
The main disadvantage of manual road tools is their limited use of them, dictated by the scale of the work. Of course, even with a significant amount of road construction work, you can use hand-held devices, but such a decision will significantly affect the productivity of the team, increase the level of stress on the workers and worsen the quality of tasks performed.
When dealing with large-scale tasks it is advisable to use specialized road-building machinery and equipment, and manual devices can be used as auxiliary means.
Types of hand tools for road works
There is a large number of hand tools used to perform various tasks during road construction work. Among them, the most common are the following types of tools:
- Manual rakes-grassers
- Portable watering cans, buckets, and pots for bitumen
- Hand tampers
- Ironers for sealing road joints
- Carts for transporting road materials (poured asphalt, stone chips for sprinkling road joints and more)
Asphalt smoothers and pavers
Special rakes and smoothers for road works are made of a special magnesium-aluminum alloy, thanks to which the tool along with low weight possesses sufficient strength parameters, allowing him to bear the loads arising as a result of asphalt leveling and different materials used in the arrangement of road surfaces.
The main tasks for which the road rake is used:
- Carrying out road works: leveling sand, gravel, crushed stone, smoothing asphalt
- Lawn design and other landscaping work
- Removal of clods of earth, construction debris and other waste, which is difficult to cope with a standard rake
- Decorating children’s and sports grounds
Road rakes are double-sided in configuration, with one side usually being a smooth blade without tines, and the other being a typical rake with U-shaped tines (type RU) or V-shaped tines (type RV). Also, both sides of the rake-rake can be represented by a smooth blade (RL type), but the tool, where one blade is smooth, and the other is embossed, is considered a more universal variant.
Portable watering cans and cauldrons for bitumen
Another group of manual equipment is a portable iron container, represented by special watering cans and cauldrons. The main purpose of such containers is the delivery of small amounts of hot and cold bitumen, as well as mastics to the place of work and their subsequent pouring into road joints, cracks, and other cavities in need of filling with binding or repair composition.
A distinctive feature of such flasks and cauldrons can be called the presence of elongated spouts, nozzles or other specialized design features, providing a high level of convenience in feeding and dispensing materials. The volume of portable devices can be different, which allows you to choose the best type of devices for specific tasks.
Manual rammers
In terms of its structure, such a tool as a hand rammer is a long handle-holder, to the bottom of which is attached a metal plate base. Most hand rammers have handles with a special rubberized coating that minimizes the load on the hands of the worker, reduces the degree of slip, and provides comfort when using the device in the cold season.
As an alternative to vibratory plates and vibratory rammers, hand rammers are used in the process of compaction of soil, asphalt, sand, and other materials. The disadvantage of such devices is the dependence of the result on the level of physical effort exerted by the worker.
Carts for transporting roadway materials
Cast asphalt is transported to the construction site using loaders, but the material can be delivered directly to the place of work with the help of mobile metal carts. A distinctive feature of such carts is that in addition to a pair of basic running wheels, they are equipped with additional heat-resistant cast-iron wheels on the front wall. They facilitate the process of rolling the cart after unloading the poured asphalt.
Another type of road construction cart is used for filling joints and seams with stone chips. When processing fresh bituminous seams, the flap at the bottom of the cart is opened by pressing a lever, and the crumb is dosed through a dispenser designed into the cart and the material is poured into the dispenser under the influence of vibrations caused by the rotation of the toothed wheels.
Asphalt seam sealers
The lower part of such flatters is made in the form of a special metal frame, which moves along the road joint, simultaneously pouring bitumen, poured by means of the portable flask.
The cycle of such work requires the joint activity of two workers, one of whom moves the iron, and the other is responsible for the process of pouring the joints with bitumen.
Where to buy hand-held road construction tools?
An extensive assortment of tampers, carts, portable trowels, aluminum rakes-trowels, and other profile devices for manual use in the process of organizing road works is best purchased in specialized stores. However, large online stores such as Amazon or Home Depot can also provide you with these tools.
