Excavation and Grading Handbook

Rating:
Summary: Not what I was hoping for
Review: As a homeowner/handyman/farmer I was hoping to find a book on the proper way to grade, dig, and slope using my compact utility tractor with loader and box scraper. In this regard I was disappointed, but a book to find what I am looking for has been impossible to find. I do think the book would be an excellent source of information for someone who is thinking about getting into this area of the construction trade- sort of a primer for the first-time construction (road work) worker.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Handbook on bread and butter civil engineering
Review: I have read the first edition of this book and it answered all my questions and then some. This book is ideal for young engineers who don't have field experience. It covers survey staking, grading, excavation, drainage, paving, water and sewer pipes from a contractor's perspective. I am going to buy the revised edition.

Rating:
Summary: Good book, but not for my needs
Review: Like one of the other reviewers I am a homeowner/handyman I was hoping to find a book on the proper way to grade, dig, etc...

This book is for the civil engineer, or project manager. It gives a good overall idea on the general concepts on how to do things related to grading/excavation. However, this book will not give you enough knowledge to do a project without additional experiences/references.

If you were a contractor who was getting ready to start a new job and needed to gain some general knowledge on a type of job you do not normally work, this book would be a good starting point.

If you are not a contractor, unless you are about to start a REALLY BIG job, with multiple pieces of large equipment, this book is of the wrong scope for you.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Handbook on bread and butter civil engineering
Review: Prior to becoming a civil engineer I operated heavy equipment. I am currently empolyed by a excavating contractor. I find the book very useful in answering questions that some experience equipment operators can't answer. The book does not teach one how to operate equipment. It describes methods of performing specific tasks(laying pipe, paving roads). It also tells how to deal with unsuitable soil, working with rock, working in mud, etc. I recommend this book to anyone involved in excavation work.

Rating:
Summary: A good book for anyone involved in excavation
Review: Prior to becoming a civil engineer I operated heavy equipment. I am currently empolyed by a excavating contractor. I find the book very useful in answering questions that some experience equipment operators can't answer. The book does not teach one how to operate equipment. It describes methods of performing specific tasks(laying pipe, paving roads). It also tells how to deal with unsuitable soil, working with rock, working in mud, etc. I recommend this book to anyone involved in excavation work.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent reference
Review: This is a book written for apprentice operating engineers. As such, it teaches the basics of road survey, grading, compaction, pipe laying, stakeout, drainage. It goes into detail on how to read survey stakes, mark and read witness lath, calculate differences in height, read and use a hand level, stake slopes, layout a subdivison, find the bottom elevation of pipelines, proper compaction of road base, and just about anything else a road worker could think of. This is an easy to use paperback book with many drawings which help explain the text. I can't tell you how useful this book has been to me.For those readers that are involved with excavation, survey, inspection (me), contracting, this book IS MUST HAVE.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent reference
Review: This is a book written for apprentice operating engineers. As such, it teaches the basics of road survey, grading, compaction, pipe laying, stakeout, drainage. It goes into detail on how to read survey stakes, mark and read witness lath, calculate differences in height, read and use a hand level, stake slopes, layout a subdivison, find the bottom elevation of pipelines, proper compaction of road base, and just about anything else a road worker could think of. This is an easy to use paperback book with many drawings which help explain the text. I can't tell you how useful this book has been to me.For those readers that are involved with excavation, survey, inspection (me), contracting, this book IS MUST HAVE.

Rating:
Summary: not too useful
Review: while this book had some interesting ideas for basic techniques, I really felt wanting from the descriptions of how to do the work. The author's descriptions were too general and stopped way short of something I could really put into action in the field.