Earthwork activities are a major part of many construction projects. They are typically performed by heavy-duty construction equipment that consumes large quantities of diesel fuel and results in large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. An estimating tool is needed to accurately assess the economic, energy, and environmental impact of earthwork activities that utilize heavy-duty diesel equipment. This paper presents the framework for a model that can be used to estimate the production rate, unit cost, activity duration, total activity cost, total fuel use, and total CO2 emissions for earthwork activities. A case study and sensitivity analysis for a bulldozer performing a bulk excavation activity is presented. Results indicate that there is little difference in the economic, energy, and environmental impact of sand and gravel, sandy clay and loam, and common earth but clay has a substantially higher impact than the other three soil types.
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