ABSTRACT
The past four decades have been an era of accelerating technology. Much advancement has
been made in the development of larger, faster, more productive construction machinery.
Increased machine productivity has resulted in an increase in the overall project size. These
two factors have combined to produce a very capital-intensive environment in which the
equipment managers must operate. The risk they must bear is further increased by inflation.
As a result, the members of the construction industry have been forced to search for methods
to reduce a high level of risk. Historically, the least cost method for reducing risk has been
used to provide detailed estimating and planning before undertaking an equipment-intensive
project and solid management throughout the course of the project. Estimating and planning
involves the judicious selection of equipment, the careful scheduling of time and resources,
and the accurate determination of expected system productivity and cost. Management
involves putting the plan into action. The key management ingredient is having predeter-
mined standards by which actual system outputs can be measured and upon which future
decisions can be based.
