JOB REPORT

Three pavers give new strength.

Paving a base layer on the A8 motorway near Stuttgart

The A8 motorway, which links the German cities of Munich and Karlsruhe, was to be widened from 4 carriageway lanes to 6 in the vicinity of Stuttgart. The additional lanes were to be built immediately next to the existing carriageway lanes, which were in urgent need of repair. The contractors relied on the latest technology from Vögele for carrying out the asphalt paving operation.

The new section was built over a total length of 10 km between the Heimsheim and Leonberg junctions in the direction of Stuttgart. The job of paving the base layer was taken on entirely by three Vögele pavers. One Vögele Super 1900-2 with paving screed AB 500-2 TP2, one Super 1803-2 with paving screed AB 500-2 TV, and one Super 1903 with paving screed AB 500 TP1 worked as a team on the first, 1.5 km long section of road.

The 15.8 m wide dual-layer base course – with a layer thickness of 11 cm each – was paved by means of the so-called “hot-on-hot” method, using some 20,000 tons of asphalt mix in just four days. Working on the A8, the powerful Super 1900-2 paver equipped with AB 500-2 TP2 screed was adjusted to a working width of just under 6.50 m. The robust and versatile Super 1803-2 paver followed in the adjacent lane, its working width adjusted to approx. 5 m – as was that of the Super 1903.

The Vögele paving screeds achieved excellent pre-compaction values of 85% even without the use of Vögele’s high-compaction technology. The new AB 500-2 TV extending screed is capable of achieving these compaction values solely with tamper and vibrator at a working speed of 5.5 m/min. Such high pre-compaction values enabled final compaction by rollers to be completed much more quickly, which resulted in considerable economical benefits.