July 2026 | Reading time: 7 min

For three decades, Wirtgen has been one of the driving forces behind the development of smart machine control systems. What began in a small project team with Leica Geosystems AG has today become one of the most influential technologies in the construction industry and provides solutions that set benchmark standards around the globe.
In our conversation, Matthias Fritz, Application Manager 3D Control Systems at Wirtgen GmbH, recalls the most important milestones along the way, describes the pivotal technical moments and tells us why a customer-centric approach remains the key to success to the present day.

Mr Fritz, how did the project begin in the mid-nineties?

I originally worked in engineering surveying. After leaving university, I first worked at an engineering firm and then moved to Leica Geosystems in Switzerland. There, I was part of a small but select team – just three surveyors, a software developer and Olaf Katowski,our Business Director. It was still the same team when the collaboration between Wirtgen and Leica Geosystems began. A customer in Germany was facing an enormous challenge: the construction of an ICE high-speed rail link with a totally new technology – the so-called ‘Slab Track’ method. The method involves laying the track on a stable trackbed of paved concrete slabs instead of on conventional concrete sleepers and ballast. At the time, there was simply no measurement and control system that could truly satisfy the extremely high precision requirements of this construction method.

When did the breakthrough come, and where did things go from there?

It came in 1999 – with the ICE high-speed rail link from Frankfurt to Cologne. That was one of the first rail infrastructure projects realised completely using the Slab Track method. A team of up to six machines worked simultaneously on the project – for the first time with 3D machine control and without the need for a physical stringline. That was a real milestone. After that, rail infrastructure projects began to get bigger and more complex. At the same time, work began on equipping cold milling machines with the system – the first one in 1999, a Wirtgen W 2000) for a customer in Wolfsburg. Interestingly, the technology actually spread a little faster there than was the case with slipform pavers.

Were there pivotal technical moments?

There certainly were! In the past, only optical motorised total stations were used. The transition to GPS, or today’s GNSS, was a real game changer. Wirtgen then decided to develop its own technologies and make the machines smarter.

And today – after 30 years of 3D machine control?

Today, we’re talking about AutoPilot 2.0 and the latest, extremely innovative Smart LEVEL PRO levelling application as systems fully integrated in the F series large milling machines. The level of integration is constantly increasing and, as a result, is becoming more and more deeply embedded in the machine's operating system. At the same time, today’s digital terrain models are transmitted directly to the machines via mobile radio networks by the Work Planner in the John Deere Operations Center™. There, planning data from typical surveying and planning systems is analysed and assessed for its suitability for the automation of processes.

Our core competence is and remains levelling – that is, the precise control of height or milling depth, slope and steering. And this is exactly where we will continue to develop practice-relevant solutions for our customers in the future.