Abstract
A prototype knowledge-based expert system to select equipment for earthwork operations, equip, is presented. The earthwork operations considered are (a) land clearing, (b) stripping and stockpiling topsoil, (c) rough grading, (d) fine grading, (e) respreading topsoil, (f) loading excess on-site materials, and (g) soil compaction. Equip was developed in conjunction with a leading local earthwork contractor. Equip was developed using personal consultant easy and a backward chaining problem-solving strategy. The expert system is based oncaterpillar equipment, but equip can be easily modified to include other manufacturers' equipment. This paper appears in transportationresearch record no. 1310, Construction innovations 1991.