Alternative configurations of earthmoving loading practices toward emissions reduction

A significant number of studies have found that the emissions, production, and expenses of earthmoving operations are dependent on numerous variables. However, there has been less evidence that has explored the implications of alternative loading practices on emissions and production performance to date. This study investigates the impact of adopting alternative loading practices on emissions and production in excavator-truck operations to close the knowledge gap. In this paper, Monte Carlo simulation was applied to compare the performance of double-sided, fractional, and multiplier loading strategies with regular single-sided loading. The emissions, production, and optimality of the fleet size in terms of emissions per production were demonstrated using case-study data from a cut-and-fill method on a residence construction project. The results implied that different loading practices lead to different effects on production and fuel use, affecting the emissions per production. The findings of this study also revealed that service time had been shown to significantly influence the emissions per production for the changed loading practices. Hence, there is a promising opportunity to improve productivity by keeping a minimum service time in earthmoving operations. The results revealed from this paper would benefit those who are working on reducing or managing construction emissions. The significance and novelty of this research are that it presents an environmentally friendly technique of designing and controlling earthmoving operations by employing alternate loading practices in excavator-truck operations.