Earthmoving operations encompass a range of construction activities aimed at altering natural terrain to meet the engineering requirements of a project. JCB Backhoe Loader - 3DX Super ecoXcellence is one of the most popular earthmoving equipment that has both capability of operating both backhoe and loader operations. This research aims to to identify the best operation of selected backhoe loader using optimization tool, multi criteria decision making and replacement analysis. The study is cross sectional in nature. The study was performed in Manthali Municipality of Ramechhap Disctrict as rapid construction is being held in the municipality. There were currently 40 active operators, so with 80% probability rate, 90% confidence interval the sample size was 22 sample. Optimization of backhoe and loader operation was performd as first objective of the research. After having survey with 22 respondents the average fuel cost during backhoe and loader operation was found to be 7.5 liter per hour and 10 liter per hour respectively. The average profit while operating backhoe and loader was NPR 1,079.77 and NPR 1,905.23 repsectively. The rate of backhoe operation was more prevelant than the loader operation by almost 20%. Based on these parameter the optimium hour of operation of backhoe and loader was found to be 1,091 and 909 hours per year. The replacement analysis was performed as second objective. The replacement assessment utilized the economic service life approach, which factored in both capital recovery and operating expenses. These were combined to determine the annual equivalent cost. Upon completion of the analysis, it was determined that the JCB Backhoe Loader 3DX Super ecoXcellence, when used in Nepalese construction activities for both backhoe and loader operations, has an economic life of approximately 4 years. The third objective was to analyse the better operation of backhoe laoder. the qualitative analysis was done using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a MCDA tool was used. Expert Choice was the software preferred. The anlaysis revealed safety as the top priority for most operators, followed by revenue, operational flexibility, and cost. vii Environmental impact of backhoe loader operation was of least concern. Pairwise comparisons revealed that the loader option was preferred over backhoe operation, with the loader scoring 54.2% compared to the backhoe's 45.8%.

Keywords

Backhoe loader, Optimization, Economic service life, Analytical Hierarchy Process

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