Motorway expansion across a large width

Leading technology, large width

SUPER 3000-3i with the SB 350 Fixed-Width Screed rehabilitates a road across a width of 16m.

Paving across a wide working width is a challenge in itself. If the job also calls for a high-quality asphalt pavement to durably withstand a high traffic load of some 78,300 vehicles per day, then leading technology is the key. As early as during one of its first jobs – rehabilitating a section of the A96 motorway near Munich – the SUPER 3000-3i from VÖGELE was able to give a hint of the feats it was capable of. The flagship paver from VÖGELE teamed up with the SB 350 Fixed-Width Screed, paving across widths that varied between 14 and 16m. That is some 2m short of its potentially record-breaking maximum width of 18m.

Jointless paving delivers quality advantages

The job specifically involved extending the road from two to three lanes. In its invitation to tender, the Southern Bavarian Motorway Authority specified for the asphalt work that both lanes had to be paved without joints over a length of 8.9km. This was hence the perfect job for the new SUPER 3000-3i from VÖGELE in the fleet of Richard Schulz Tiefbau GmbH & Co. KG. Based in Neuburg, Bavaria, this construction company has a great deal of expertise in paving across large widths. At Schulz, this method is considered to offer clear quality advantages over paving several strips “hot to hot”.

Flexible paving across widths of up to 16m with the SB 350 Fixed-Width Screed

Initially, the SUPER 3000-3i and the SB 350 Fixed-Width Screed were also new to the paving team. The team does, however, have experience working with a SUPER 2500, a predecessor by two generations of the new VÖGELE flagship paver. The extra-wide hydraulic bolt-on extensions, which boosted productivity, were the most notable of all the innovations. The pave width can be adjusted by SmartWheel by up to 1.25m on each side of the screed, meaning that the total pave width can be varied hydraulically by up to 2.5m.

However, on the A96 job site, the screed and paver still had substantial power reserves: the base course was paved in two 11cm-thick layers, followed by an 8.5cm-thick binder course. Of course, the project on the A96 job site was very impressive, even though the SB 350 was not working to its full potential. The fixed-width screed can also pave anti-freeze layers 50cm thick and surface courses up to 18m wide.