Cost: Up to $60,000

Maximum Lifting Capacity: Up to 3,500 lbs

Designed originally to shovel and move various materials on the farm, skid-steer loaders moved onto construction sites in the 1980's. Quick, versatile and relatively inexpensive, skid-steer loaders have become an essential part of many companies' equipment fleets. Attachments like drills, sweepers, buckets and backhoes make the skid-steer a versatile performer.

Cost: Up to $2,000,000

Maximum Speed: Up to 50mph

When a lot of earth needs to be moved, big trucks do it. The primary use for off highway trucks is in mining operations. These giants of the equipment industry can hold up to 241 cubic yards of material; that's equivalent to about 30 automobiles.

Cost: Up to $1,500,000

Horsepower Range: Up to 850hp

Found in almost every type of earthmoving project, dozers push dirt, coal, gravel, sand and other materials from one place to another. Despite the brute force necessary for their job function, dozers are very sophisticated, with high-tech electronics controlling blade operation, engine speed, emissions and other functions.

Cost: Up to $150,000

Maximum Digging Depth: 21 feet

One of the diesel powered workhorses of the construction industry, backhoe-loaders are named for their two prominent features: a loading bucket at one end and a backhoe at the other. The backhoe is used to dig; the loading bucket can carry a variety of construction materials including sand, dirt, and gravel. The bucket can also be used to push dirt back into the hole created by the backhoe.

Cost: Up to $1,200,000

Capacity Range: Up to 44 cubic yards

Long a vital part of large earthmoving projects, scrapers move huge volumes of materials, and literally change the landscape. Using brute force and a specialized design, they do the basic sculpting of a construction area. Then, dozers move in to refine the landscape, followed by motor graders for the finishing touches.

Cost: Up to $2,500,000

Horsepower Range: Up to 2,000hp

Ranging from quarries and sawmills, to mines, housing developments and underground utility projects, wheel loaders load and carry materials around jobsites. Wheel loaders are very versatile, and are available with a variety of attachments. Electronics have become increasingly important to provide optimal control.

Cost: Up to $200,000

Weight: Up to 50,000 lbs.

For asphalt pavement to remain smooth and level in use, it has to be prepared after the paving machines leave. Rollers enter the job at this point, using a planned combination of weight and speed to compress the asphalt properly. Skilled operators apply their expertise to produce a long-lasting. flat and level surface.

Cost: Up to $500,000

Maximum Blade (Moldboard) Length: 16 feet

Invaluable for roadbed and construction site preparation, motor graders finish the work started by bulldozers, using fine tuning of their blades and, more recently, laser guidance to level surfaces. Featuring intertwining sophisticated hydraulic and mechanical power systems, motor graders require highly skilled technicians.

Cost: Up to $4,750,000

Average Cost to Run per Hour: Smaller - $170; Larger - $1,400

Hydraulic excavators are common at many construction work sites. For digging jobs requiring high productivity, excavators teamed with dump trucks move a lot of material quickly. Sophisticated technology, and a variety of attachments, make hydraulic excavators indispensable to construction contractors.

Cost: Over $50,000

Torque Range: Up to 1,500,000 ft.-lb.

Question: how do you put cable or pipe into place under a busy highway, river or mountain without stopping traffic? Answer: a horizontal directional drill. These machines bore holes in the ground from one point to another using electronic guidance systems and computerized programs. The holes drilled can be up to several miles long.

Cost: Up to $500,000

Maximum Standard Paving Width: 10 feet

Whether it be resurfacing highways, parking lots or even golf cart paths, asphalt pavers make the job efficient. From their origins as modified concrete pavers, asphalt paving machines have evolved significantly to become sophisticated, flexible machines capable of handling a variety of paving applications.

Cost: Up to $500,000

Maximum Capacity: Up to 100,000 lbs.

At jobsites, equipment yards and warehouses, bulky materials need to be shuttled from one place to another. Forklifts handle that aspect of the job, using projecting forks to lift and support a load as it moves from place to place. Machine sizes range from small to very large. They are often used inside buildings, and can be equipped with liquid-propane-fueled engines for those applications.

Cost: Up to $1,500,000

Maximum Boom Length: Up to 75 feet

Cranes vary in size from those mounted on pickup trucks to those on massive, customized vehicles designed to move them from place to place. Whatever their size, though, their purpose is to lift and place heavy objects. A practical knowledge of math and physics is required for using cranes efficiently and safely.

Cost: Up to $50,000

Maximum Platform Height: Up to 125 feet

Designed to replace scaffolding and ladders, aerial work platforms lift workers, their tools and building materials directly to the job. Smaller ones can fit through doorways to handle inside work; larger ones can reach 12 stories into the air. Whether they use a scissor-type mechanism, articulating arm or telescoping mast, aerial-work platforms increase efficiency at a jobsite.

Cost: Up to $650,000

Maximum Paving Width: Up to 50 feet

Commonly seen on highway building projects, concrete pavers place ribbons of smooth concrete on surfaces prepared by earthmoving equipment. Guided by surveyor's markings, the pavers process tons of material to exacting tolerances with the aid of high-tech electronics and hydraulics.

Cost: Up to $600,000

Horsepower: Up to 600

When contractors need to lay new underground utilities, this is the machine of choice. It makes quick work of digging narrow, long and continous trenches. Trenchers allow new phone, electric, water and waste lines to be installed fast, efficiently and safely.