Page 186 - Moving the Earth_ The Workbook of Excavation

BASEMENTS

4.26 THE WORK

FIGURE 4.22 Teaming front shovel and backhoe.

Another method of loading trucks easily would be to start the cut at the sidewalk, making a
ramp down for a truck wide enough to be backed against one part of the face to be loaded, while
the hoe digs beside it.
When the combined efforts of the shovels have removed enough of the top cut that there is
room for both of them on its floor, the backhoe may be moved down to do the digging to final
grade, while the front shovel completes the upper cut, as in (D). Both shovels will be working on
the same floor, but one will be digging material above, the other below. When the upper layer is
finished, the front shovel will leave the job to be completed by the other.
The hoe will move from 10 to 30 percent less dirt each hour than a front shovel of the same
size, a loss which may be only partly compensated for by the straight-wall cuts and the ability to
take away the ramp without calling in another shovel or rig. However, if certain difficulties develop,
the backhoe output will be unaffected, while that of the front shovel will be sharply reduced, and
the presence of the hoe is insurance against undue loss of time from such causes.