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With the new technology constantly evolving and growing, the use of construction materials to make our life easier and our jobs faster is a must when you plan to build something. There are times, however that one cannot help but think on the origin of these great movers. Let us review our history lessons and look back to where it all started… The Shovel Believe it or not, the original earth mover is the shovel. In Neolithic times and earlier a large animal's scapula (shoulder blade) was often used as a crude shovel. Manual shoveling (often in combination with picking) was the chief means of excavation in construction until mechanization via steam shovels and later hydraulic equipment (excavators such as backhoes and loaders) gradually replaced most manual shoveling. The same is also true of the history of mining and quarrying and of bulk materials handling in industries such as steelmaking and stevedoring. Railroad cars and cargo holds containing ore, coal, gravel, sand, or grains were often loaded and unloaded this way. Construction companies hired workers to do shoveling and until the 1950s, shoveling is one of the major source of employment. Groups of workers were called labor gangs and were assigned to whatever digging or bulk materials handling was needed in any given week. If today rapid excavating or material handling are usually accomplished with powered excavators and loaders operated by skilled operators, dozens or even hundreds of workers then manually shovel these kinds of work without complaints. Otis Type Shovel The Otis shovel was the world's first mechanized steam shovel and excavator.  In 1835, seeing the difficult

Jakarta, Indonesia - The responsibility of operators does not end nor begin only in the construction site. Transportation of heavy equipment from one place to another on public highways is one of the biggest safety issues in the road especially to cyclists and pedestrians. Axis Capital Group, a company which sells and rents capital equipment from Singapore, has reported more 12 injuries and accidents in the last 16 years of operation. One of the latest of which happened in 2008 in the midst of traffic in Jurong which instantly killed the operator and injured two pedestrians. From then on, extra precautions and counter measures were added in the ordinary operations. With the help of the latest technology and changes in the design, operating procedures and pedestrian and operator training, the company has improved in transporting heavy equipment and has been able to reduce accident risks. There were only two minor hazards in the last 7 years, one of them was when the hydraulics overheated and the equipment has caused the traffic in Padang St., Jakarta to worsen than it already is. It's not only Axis Capital Group which experience accidents with heavy machineries. Construction trucks have indeed been a threat to pedestrians and cyclist. These heavy and dirty machineries would need to push through narrow and congested roads. Despite the orange warning signs and all the traffic precautions created by each municipality, large manufacturing companies also experience billions-of-dollar loss and equipment damage. To lessen the risk, large manufacturing companies have created different designs and operating systems. Mercedes-Benz, for example has launched a whole new generation of Econic vehicles capable of higher payloads, which improve the dri