Spanish

Truck-a-palooza

Building it

– week 4 –

WELCOME TO WEEK 4!

Welcome to Week 4 of the Department of Environmental Quality and Public Works’ Truck-a-Palooza! This week, we’re going to take a look at some classic construction machinery. This equipment is used by the Division of Streets and Roads for construction work all over the city.

This website is best viewed on a desktop, laptop or Chromebook.

Truck-a-Palooza is presented by Lexington Environmental Quality and Public Works

Backhoe loader

Take a 360 virtual tour around the trucks by clicking and dragging anywhere on the image. Click on a hotspot to see a close-up picture or an action video. 

Explore

Backhoe
loader

  • Streets and Roads uses backhoes to dig up blacktop, sidewalk, or drain pipes. A backhoe gets its name because the bucket digs into dirt backwards.

Explore the inside for the truck from the viewpoint of a driver. Click squares for more information.

You're the driver

Truck fact:

These machines can dig holes up to 14 feet deep.

Behind the Wheel:

Sam Clark

Sam has been with the Division of Streets and Roads for eight years. Over the past few decades, Sam’s mother, father, and two older brothers have all worked with the city. When Sam’s not working on the snow plow crew or the leaf vacuum crew, he’s on the concrete crew. Sam enjoys that he gets to work with his hands and do something different every day with this job.

In his free time, Sam likes to go on long motorcycle rides with his brother.

Grader

Take a 360 virtual tour around the trucks by clicking and dragging anywhere on the image. Click on a hotspot to see a close-up picture or an action video. 

Explore

Grader

  • Graders have a long blade that can create a flat or sloped surface. They are used by Streets and Roads to level out or dirt or gravel.
  • Graders are one of the most difficult pieces of equipment to operate because they have so many different controls and capabilities.

Explore the inside of the truck from the viewpoint of a driver. Click squares for more information.

You're the driver

Truck fact:

The set of levers that control the grader blade are sometimes called an “antler rack” because there are so many of them.

Behind the Wheel:

Larry Carrier

Larry has worked with the Streets and Roads division for 4 years, and he’s operated heavy equipment for the past 30 years. Larry says that it took him almost 3 years of using the grader every day before he felt comfortable with it. Now he loves operating it because it’s so challenging and engaging. 

When Larry isn’t on the job, he works on a lakeside cabin that he’s building himself. He also loves gardening and fishing.

excavator

Take a 360 virtual tour around the trucks by clicking and dragging anywhere on the image. Click on a hotspot to see a close-up picture or an action video. 

Explore

excavator

  • An excavator uses a shovel-like attachment called a bucket to dig and move earth. The driver uses two joysticks; one each  to control the boom and the bucket.
  • The Division of Streets and Roads uses excavators to install pipes or to dig in tight spots.

Explore the inside of the truck from the viewpoint of a driver. Click squares for more information.

You're the driver

Truck fact:

Excavators that have tracks instead of wheels, like this one, are called “crawlers.”