Developments in Heavy Construction Equipment

H IST O R Y O F D E V E L O PM E N T An opportunity to discuss the development of any product must include a bit of history so that having observed where we have been one may have a clearer perspective of where we are and may be going. This discussion will try to capture all of these facets. Construction projects of one type or another date back to times before recorded history. M an’s hands were undoubtedly the first tools, followed by wood and stone implements that aided in shaping or excavating earth and rock. The invention of the wheel and the first wheelbarrow probably filled the need for the movement of construction materials. The cart followed the wheelbarrow and horses and oxen replaced the man for power but it was literally centuries before manpower, horsepower, and hand tools were supplanted by mechanical power.