Asphalt milling, paving & compaction

Leica Geosystems is now offering a sophisticated machine control tool for use with compaction equipment. The firm’s advanced iCON roller package is said to offer contractors an effective solution that can deliver constant and effective compaction on any site. The new iCON roller has on-screen visualisation to show the user where completed passes have occurred and where more are needed for consistent results. Colour coding helps avoid costly reworking as pass count progress is constantly tracked. The unit

Wirtgen is introducing a new compact milling machine in the shape of its novel W35Ri model. This machine is designed to mill slows 350mm wide and Michaela Adams of the firm’s marketing department said: “We are the only manufacturer with a machine this size.”

The Fayat Group is boosting its share of the Chinese market through a series of key model launches. One key launch is for the BF800C paver, which is available in a specification to suit Chinese market needs. Sales and marketing manager Jacques Bonvallet said, “Customers are now looking for high tech solutions and they are starting to change their minds.

New for BOMAG in China are a soil compactor, asphalt paver, asphalt rollers and reclaimer/stabiliser. These launches come at a time when the firm is seeing its market share in China increase, as more customers opt for quality machines for their longer term road contracts.

Truly innovative is Roadtec’s Shuttle Buggy material transfer vehicle. John Irvine, President of Roadtec, explains how and why the ‘Buggy’ changed the game of asphalt paving Road paving technology changed dramatically in the 1930s when the American inventor Harry Barber unveiled the very first asphalt paver. Barber was what we today would call a “game-changer”. Innovations like Barber’s don’t come around often. In fact, decades can pass until another breakthrough product pushes the productivity and q

The list of manufacturers introducing new asphalt pavers in 2016 is long, with improved units for both European and US markets being made available. Note that this section summarises new models mentioned in the March and May issues of World Highways. Designed to meet European requirements, there are three new models from Ammann, the ultra-compact wheeled AFW150-2 for tasks such as road repairs as well as the larger AF 350-2 and AF 500-2, which are available in both wheeled and tracked variants. Atlas

In the Middle East nation Qatar, a large-scale highway project is underway that will make significant improvements for vehicle capacity and cut journey times for drivers. The new route will also improve transport connections between Qatar’s ports and neighbouring Saudi Arabia. At the same time, the new highway will carry much of the heavy vehicle traffic travelling between the two countries.

Rebuilding a local road in southern Germany will provide users with a safer route, particularly in poor weather conditions. Black Forest-based contractor Waltersbacher has used a tracked AFT 500 asphalt paver from Ammann to resurface a local road in the municipality of Glatten, near Baiersbronn. The contractor has used a number of smaller Ammann compaction units in the past. So when it won the contract to upgrade the road the firm opted to buy the AFT 500 to handle this work, as well as other jobs r