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Advances in US paving machines and material feeders

Paving machines vary considerably in North America compared with those units used elsewhere. On a worldwide basis, pavers with tamper bar screeds are popular having been developed in Europe and also favoured by Japanese and Chinese firms. But in the US the length of highways to be constructed resulted in a focus on high production pavers, which still continues today. North America and Latin America are key markets for these machines, with Australia being one of the few territories to employ both European an
May 30, 2013 Read time: 12 mins
Roadtec’s Shuttle Buggy
Roadtec’s Shuttle Buggy is available with a slurry system as an option

New developments are coming to market for US style, high production pavers while material transfer vehicles are also evolving – Mike Woof reports

Paving machines vary considerably in North America compared with those units used elsewhere. On a worldwide basis, pavers with tamper bar screeds are popular having been developed in Europe and also favoured by Japanese and Chinese firms. But in the US the length of highways to be constructed resulted in a focus on high production pavers, which still continues today. North America and Latin America are key markets for these machines, with Australia being one of the few territories to employ both European and US-style paving equipment.

At the World of Asphalt event in San Antonio, Texas, several manufacturers rolled out new pavers aimed at the North American and Latin American markets. These included small pavers and also new highway class machines. Another development comes with the introduction of improved material transfer vehicles. Although these were developed in the US initially to meet the demand of the high production North American paving operations, they are attracting customers on a global basis too and customers also have a wider choice of machines than in the past. For large paving projects in particular, global customers have recognised the benefits these machines offer in terms of more homogenous mixing, reduced material segregation, better temperature gradients and more continuous material flow both into and through the paver.

Of note for the market in US pavers and also material feeders is the fact that the Cedarapids brand machines formerly owned by 3956 Terex Roadbuilding are now being sold by 217 Fayat subsidiary 172 Bomag. Production  of these will continue in the Terex Roadbuilding plant at Oklahoma City for a time, but the machines are being sold in BOMAG colours and the Cedarapids name will be retained along with the BOMAG branding. They will be re-engineered in due course although a timeframe has not yet been established for this process. Dave Dennison of BOMAG’s US operation said that the deal with Terex Roadbuilding has brought well-proven, highway class Cedarapids pavers within the BOMAG stable. Although BOMAG did offer US-style pavers previously, production of these was stopped some time ago. He said, “The pavers give us a wonderful position for our dealers. We also acquired four models of materials transfer vehicles.”

Somewhat smaller in size is the new CP100 paver from 2599 Carlson. Although best known for its highly successful screeds, Carlson is launching the new CP100, a compact machine designed for jobs such as parking lots and driveways. This paver is Tier 4 Interim compliant and is said to be productive, manoeuvrable and fuel efficient. Carlson sales and marketing manager Tom Travers said, “We’ve made a 2.5m platform on a 10tonne machine.”

The machine is fitted with Carlson’s own EZ-RZ-10 rear mount screed and the CP100 replaces a previous small paver developed by the company. Travers said, “We’ve gone the extra distance and put in a lot of extra steel.”

He continued that the machine has been heavily-built, sharing some components too from the larger pavers built by sister company 1252 Roadtec. He said, “The bearings are all the same as in a highway class paver. This machine will really last and it should outlast the other small pavers from competitors by 3-5 times. It’s probably good for 500,000tonnes. If you look in the hopper it has the same deck chains as the larger pavers and the push rollers and truck hitches are the same as the highway class machines too.”
206 Dynapac says that its MF2500CS mobile feeder features a high performance conveying system and is also said to be versatile with a conveyor that can be positioned as required. Said to be the only 2.55m wide feeder on the market, the Dynapac MF2500CS is cost-effective to transport, with low operating costs. Feeding capacity is said to be 4,000tonnes/hour and it can transport 27tonnes of gravel, sand or asphalt to its destination in just 35?seconds. Operating contact-free, the Dynapac MF2500CS feeder ensures an even material flow for all kinds of asphalt and gravel layers.

The machine meets Tier 4 Interim emissions standards and is powered by a 196 Cummins QSB 6.7 C260 diesel rated at 170kW. Equipped as standard with a short conveyor, the MF2500CS mobile feeder can also work with an additional conveyor mounted behind the short belt that can be swung into position for paving shoulders for example. This can be attached and removed as necessary, without modification.

Operation is fully automated by steering, distance and feeding sensors and the optional steering device automatically guides the feeder, so the operator can concentrate on the truck emptying process for productivity. Maintenance costs for the MF2500CS are said to be low, while its low weight of less than 20tonnes and narrow 2.55m width help cut transport costs.

Also aimed at smaller projects is 717 Leeboy’s 8616, the latest paver from the firm. This is fitted with the firm’s heavy-duty Legend electric screed, which is capable of extending from 2.44-4.57m. No gas-powered screed heating option is available and a spokesperson for the company commented, “So few people want propane now.”

Weighing in at 9.1tonnes the machine features a 9tonne capacity hopper, with power from a 75kW 1265 Kubota diesel. A Tier 3 version of the engine is fitted at present, though a Tier 4 Interim variant is due shortly. The machine runs on polypropylene tracks, which are said to be durable and long lasting. Machine control options include the 342 Topcon system fitted for the World of Asphalt exhibition or 1228 MOBA equipment, as well as most other packages.

In addition, LeeBoy is now offering its proven 8515 paver with the same heavy-duty Legend electric screed as an option, as well as a conventional electric screed.

Roadtec is keen to maintain its position in the materials transfer sector with the latest upgrade to its highly successful Shuttle Buggy. The company took on board comments from the contractors about the remixing performance, reliability and productivity that has led the firm to increase the life of critical wear components in the machine, to reduce maintenance downtime and increase uptime.

Roadtec president Jeff Richmond said, “We included a lot of improvements to wear parts. We believe we’ve increased the life of these parts by up to 50%.”

Although the new Shuttle Buggy looks the same as the previous model, it is slightly heavier due to a beefed-up structure but the new engine is more fuel-efficient. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the fuel-efficiency of the new Tier 4 Interim engine,” Richmond said.
In operation the Shuttle Buggy and the paver work together, with the former following the latter automatically, a paver train technology that was developed to meet the needs of the European market. “The Buggy operator doesn’t need to worry about keeping up with the paver.”

The SP-200e spray paver is also available for use with the Shuttle Buggy that features a 7,949litre capacity on-board, product storage system. This is a 3m class machine with a gravity feed hopper and an extendable spraybar with proven rate control technology from Bearcat. Internationally the Shuttle Buggy is proving popular and Richmond said, “We have six or seven Shuttle Buggies working in Germany now, and it’s difficult to sell a US paving product to Germany.”

The sophisticated Guardian telematics system from Roadtec is also being fitted to the Shuttle Buggy and allows full diagnosis of performance back at the factory. Richmond said, “We can look at all that in real-time. There are a lot of functions we can repair over the internet, or we can identify component failures for an operator and put a new part in the air for delivery next day.”

Customer service has been a strong focus for the firm and he said, “Every machine is now covered by a three year warranty and if an operator wants to repair a machine himself, we will pay the cost.”

The key behind this is to make sure that operating cost is a known quantity for the customer. The new RP190e is the first Cummins-powered, 3m class paver Roadtec has built, with good all-round visibility due to its low deck design and efficient fumes extraction. An anti-segregation feed system is fitted as standard to improve paving quality, with abrasion resistant components to increase working life.

The Guardian system is also being fitted to this machine to monitor electrics, hydraulics, engine, auger speed and flow gate height for example. Richmond said, “If a customer has problems with surface quality, we can look at the slope control and reset it over the internet in real-time. We know the customer gets a bonus for quality.”

The Guardian package is effectively a PC on the machine that will provide an alert if something goes wrong with the piece of equipment. “We can do analysis of production data and we’re trying to help them to be more efficient.”

Roadtec is launching a 2.5m tamper bar screed developed by the firm’s operation in Germany. This screed has been designed as a heavy-duty unit and for US customers, this will allow it to be used for RCC applications. Worldwide however it will be sold on the new German-built Roadtec asphalt pavers.

One of the more sophisticated competitors to Roadtec’s Shuttle Buggy is a very different machine in concept. 1194 Vögele’s MT-3000-2 material transfer vehicle is a crawler machine with a transfer capacity of up to 1,200tonnes/hour. This replaced the firm’s earlier machine in its line-up and the high capacity allows it to work with Vögele’s giant SUPER 3000 asphalt paver. Able to unload a 25tonne capacity truck in just 60 seconds, the MT-3000-2 offers high productivity and is also highly sophisticated, with automatic controls that mean it follows the paver. An offset version of the machine is also available.
One of the biggest launches at World of Asphalt was for 2394 Volvo’s new 7000 series pavers, which replace the earlier 6000 series models. The new model has been developed from the earlier Blaw Knox design at the Shippensburg facility in Pennsylvania. A company spokesperson said, “It comes in wheeled and tracked versions and it’s the biggest paver we make.”

The wheeled version is the P7170 and the tracked model is the P7110 and the paver is of note as this is the first large road machine to have been developed at the facility since this business was acquired from Ingersoll Rand by Volvo Construction Equipment. In all it features around 200-250 upgrades over the machine being replaced and is intended to compete in the 3.05m wide screed class, with a maximum paving width of 7.9m.

An array of screeds with front and rear-mounted extensions is available to suit various customer needs. Quick-coupling makes the extensions easy to add or remove, while four standard ultrasonic sensors automatically regulate the proper delivery and flow of material to match the paver’s speed and ensure smooth and consistent paving.

Power comes from a Volvo D8 235 diesel rated at 175kW and which meets Tier 4 Interim legislation. The spokesperson said, “We took some of our legacy design from the Blaw Knox. It has a smooth propel drive and we’ve added more power to this model while it has the same fuel consumption.”

The design has been tested extensively, with 250,000tonnes of material having been put through the pre-production machines in working applications. Once this tough trial period was over, the test machines were taken apart to see what had worn. The spokesperson said, “We’re very careful in Volvo how we design machines for high altitude and high temperature operations. We have 2,000 hours on three pre-production machines.”

Paving efficiency is said to be maximised as the hopper works in conjunction with independently controlled conveyors and augers to provide a consistent material flow to the screed. Synchronised folding, hydraulic front hopper wings deliver material to the conveyor system, which the firm claims minimises material segregation.

Hydrostatic drives for the independently controlled conveyors and augers ensure material is moved evenly to both sides of the screed. Each conveyor has a reverse feature which helps control material and assist in clean-up. Proportional auger speed control and hydraulic auger height adjustments optimise the head of material in the auger channel. The company claims the new 7000 series will outperform competing units with features such as a 90.5m/min maximum paving speed and the spokesperson said, “This is one of the most productive pavers out there.”

Slurry option

360 VSS Macropaver says sales are strong for its equipment at present. The US, Canada and  South America, Chile and Peru in particular, are all healthy markets for the firm, although it does not market its equipment in Brazil due to the high import tariffs.  Vice president Doug Hogue said that the company has made advances with its technology and he commented, “We’ve been doing more with fibres.”

The fibres help the mechanical performance of the mix and help increase life and the company saw market demand for this technology grow. As a result the company now builds a feeder system for the fibres that can be fitted to its Macropaver and Hogue said, “We make a cutter for it. The fibres are cut into the final mix slurry.”
Designed to be easy to operate from either side of the deck even in night working conditions, the controls on the dual consoles are all back-lit. A low deck height allows good all-round visibility for the operator while the firm has also paid close attention to service needs by keeping maintenance points at comfortable working height from the ground. A fume extraction system is fitted that is said to removes fumes at 83% efficiency without obstructing the operator’s view into the auger channel. Fumes exit through the integral exhaust stack.

Roadtec is also facing competition from closer to home in the US for its Shuttle Buggy, in the shape of another wheel-mounted materials transfer vehicle. Developed by Weiler, this machine is offered by a number of 178 Caterpillar dealers alongside the Cat pavers for large highway projects.

The 34tonne Weiler E2850 is driven by a Cat C9 diesel rated at 224kW and the machine has four-wheel steering as well as a three-speed hydrostatic drive. It has a 22.5tonne capacity and the user can fit a hopper insert that boosts capacity by 5tonnes. The Weiler material transfer vehicle is now supported in the US by all 52 Caterpillar distributors and Weiler units are also being sold in Russia, Mongolia and Australia through the Caterpillar network. Bill Hood of Weiler said, “A Mongolian customer has ordered a 2850 and it’s the first transfer vehicle in the country.”

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