Customer demonstration with new paver
A SUPER day in Vienna
Contractor tests a latest-generation Vögele paver
“Close to our customers” is more than just a slogan for the Wirtgen Group. When a team of experts in paving and asphalt put the SUPER 1900-5 through its paces in a live application, Vögele specialists were on hand to assist.
The job site is somewhat hidden away behind two large warehouses on an industrial estate north-east of Vienna. Horst Kargl, manager of the Vienna Division of Austrian contractor Strabag SE, and his team gathered around the SUPER 1900-5. Ready to start, the Highway Class paver gleams in the early-morning sunshine.
Strabag, the largest contractor in Austria, was putting the new SUPER 1900-5 from Vögele through its paces.
Everyone’s eyes are on André Felchner, Head of Applications Technology at Vögele and a real old hand. He has just picked up a ratchet to demonstrate how to fit an extension to the AB 600 extending screed in just a few steps.
“We claim that our network of branches and dealers means that we are always close to our customers, wherever they are in the world. This includes customised training courses such as those at our in-house CTT Training Center, but naturally also advice and training on the customer’s premises - as well as customer demonstrations like this one today, of course.”
André Felchner, Head of Applications Technology at Vögele, demonstrates how clearly the functions are arranged on the screed operator’s console.
Ideal conditions for test and demonstration
The project is to pave the access and egress to a site accommodating a park for leased containers. The SUPER 1900-5 is actually a bit over-sized for this project - its laydown rate of up to 700 t/h and pave widths of between 2.55 and 11.5 m would make it more at home on large-scale projects involving motorways and trunk roads. But a representative from Strabag’s ZIB Test Center BMTI GmbH from Vienna interjects: “This is an ideal area for a demonstration because it’s in a cul-de-sac, so we won’t be disturbed by anyone and don’t have to set up any barriers or stick to a schedule.”
Central division Strabag BMTI is responsible, among other things, for maintaining, repairing and overhauling all of Strabag’s construction machinery. The ZIB Test Center collaborated with Michael Krögner from the Wirtgen Group Sales and Service branch in Austria to set up this paver test. As the largest contractor in Austria, Strabag is an important customer and has been using a wide range of Wirtgen Group machinery for years.
At the centre of everything: continued development and perfecting of the product
This is why Horst Kargl considers the further developments of this new generation of pavers to be the most important factor: “We are mainly looking at the new “Dash 5” technologies and automation functions,” he says. The SUPER 1900 has been subject to continuous further development since it was launched in 1999. For the “Dash 5” generation, particular attention was paid to automatic and assistance functions, operator and user convenience, sustainability, cost-effectiveness and safety.
“Dash 5” technologies at a glance: the customer’s team was mainly interested in the further developments in the new SUPER 1900-5 - such as its new automatic, assistance and convenience functions.
Safety and convenience from start to finish
Before paving starts, André Felchner demonstrates the new “Dash 5” function Paver Access Control (PAC). The PAC control unit is positioned directly on the screed. All the steps for starting up and stopping the paver are performed from ground level at the touch of a button - switching on the lighting, starting the engine, booting up the paver control unit, raising the hardtop and locking it in position and lowering the screed. André Felchner explains more: “Whilst the paver is warming up, you can prepare everything on the PAC panel without having to climb up onto the paver. When you are ready, the screed operator’s console is connected with Quick Connect - no connecting cables - and off you go.”
Operators, screed operators and colleagues familiarise themselves with their new machine. With his paving crew in mind, the ZIB Test Center representative is interested in these particular hard facts - technical features and characteristics, spare parts, availability, the service network - and of course price. But “soft” issues are a factor too - particularly the way in which members of the paving team experience the paver and how they accept the new features of the “Dash 5” generation.
Focus on further developments: Vögele experts explain the new “Dash 5” features.
Greater convenience and ergonomics:
ErgoPlus 5 operating concept
Developers at Vögele too are aware of the importance of user acceptance, which is why they further optimised the ErgoPlus operating concept. They simplified the operation of individual functions, improved the design, reduced structural height to increase legroom and integrated additional storage options for mobile phones and the like. Furthermore, the Smartwheel feature makes the steering of the SUPER 1900-5 even more accurate than that of its predecessor. The optional “Premium Touch” display allows operators to monitor and operate existing and future digital solutions conveniently.
Automation takes the strain off users
Thomas Schuh, Product Manager at Vögele, travelled to Vienna with André Felchner from company headquarters in Ludwigshafen. Once there, he explained the new automatic Grade Assist function - a further development of the tried and tested Auto Grade Plus system for automated grade and slope control. This helps the paver operator pave the road accurately to predefined crown and transverse pavement profiles. The operator simply has to specify the slope of a target point - the system then automatically controls a steady approach towards this value.
Press just a few buttons and the paving parameters have already been entered on the screed operator’s console. “That is a real relief for us,” says Paving Supervisor Thomas Strasser. “You used to have to control everything manually.” In combination with Edge Control it is also possible to control screed width along a tensioned wire automatically. The AutoTrac automatic screed width system ensures that the side of the screed without a tensioned wire also retracts or extends to match, keeping pave width constant.
Michael Krögner from the Wirtgen Group Sales and Service branch in Austria explains the Grade Assist function which automates the paving of crown and transverse pavement profiles.
“That is a real relief for us. You used to have to control everything manually.”
Thomas Strasser, Paving Supervisor
Improved flow of material and optimum pre-compaction
The Strabag professionals were also extremely interested in the overhauled material handling control system: as auger and conveyors now “communicate” with one another, material feed is co-ordinated with even greater precision, allowing an optimum head of material in front of the screed and thus uninterrupted paving. The hydraulically adjustable limiting plates for the Power Tunnel also ensure an optimum level of material in front of the screed, as well as adapting to suit screed width.
Felchner explained another practical function of the “Dash 5” AB 600 extending screed – hydraulic tamper stroke adjustment. With the Dual Power Shift Tamper, paver operators can easily adjust tamper stroke at the touch of a button. This saves a great deal of time compared to mechanical adjustment and is especially practical when layer thicknesses vary. “It significantly reduces setup times and is very convenient, of course,” says Strasser.
Direct exchange of information delivers valuable feedback:
those using the Vögele SUPER 1900-5 for the first time today are happy with it. The paver has proved its worth, they are proud of the quality of their work. Thomas Schuh and André Felchner are both positive too: “Team members showed great interest and were quick to familiarise themselves with the paver. The new features and the new operating concept were also very well-received. This direct exchange of information with our customers and our users is very important and highly valuable to us and our work. After all, we want our pavers to meet our customers’ requirements.”
Satisfied with the result and with the SUPER 1900-5: the Strabag paving team around Paving Supervisor Thomas Strasser (second from left).
