Making sustainable road construction tangible: the Wirtgen Group at Bauma

‘The Future in Roadbuilding – Smart. Safe. Sustainable.’ This was the motto of the joint appearance by the Wirtgen Group and John Deere at Bauma 2022. With 97 exhibits – including 37 world premieres – and dedicated exhibition spaces covering digital system concepts and sustainability, the Group showcased trailblazing road construction solutions.

Innovation power: e-machines and other product innovations

The sustainability focus of the Wirtgen Group was a central theme throughout the exhibition booth. Consequently, the spotlight among the world premiere machines and innovations was on battery-electric tandem rollers from Hamm, the battery-electric mini road pavers from Vögele, and the all-electric impact crusher from Kleemann. The two Wirtgen compact milling machines with comfort cabin, the Vögele Dash 5 generation road paver, and the Benninghoven REVOC system, a catalytic converter for asphalt mixing plants, also caused quite a stir.

Production systems with ecological and economic savings potential

In addition to the individual machines, the Group also presented production systems providing complete road construction solutions. It is in the sum of these solutions that the greatest ecological and economic potential lies – solutions that cover everything from cold recycling and asphalt recycling to emission-free applications in cities and other sensitive locations, as well as large-scale rehabilitation measures and small-scale, municipal work. Users benefit not only from the coordinated Wirtgen Group machine portfolio, but also from the synergies generated by the alliance with John Deere. This also applies to the processing of quarry and recycling materials, where John Deere wheel loaders together with Kleemann crushers and screening plants form an integrated production system.

Sales of John Deere wheel loaders also in Europe

In future, John Deere will offer two wheel loader models in selected European markets. The 744 P-Tier and 824 P-Tier were launched in Germany and Great Britain at the start of Bauma on 24 October. Both wheel loader models will be offered through the Wirtgen Group sales network.

Digitization as a driver for greater sustainability in road construction

In the Technology Zone, the Wirtgen Group presented digital solutions for its product brands that already make it easier for users to operate the machines and enable job site documentation. These solutions include the Wirtgen Performance Tracker, the new Wirtgen AutoTrac satellite-based steering system for wheeled soil stabilizers and wheeled recyclers, the new Smart Compact digital compaction assistant from Hamm, as well as the Vögele documentation and process optimization tools, WITOS Paving Docu and Paving Plus.

In addition, the Operations Center provided a glimpse of how entire jobsites can be planned, monitored and analysed in the future The aim is to deliver real added value to customers with the help of telematics solutions, enabling them to implement their projects even more efficiently.

Sustainability as a cornerstone of the corporate strategy

The Wirtgen Group is a pioneer in achieving greater mobility in road construction. And sustainability is a cornerstone of the Group’s corporate strategy – something that was clearly demonstrated in the exhibition space dedicated to this topic. The innovations showcased at Bauma also underscored efforts to increase the availability of battery-electric product models and to offer alternative drive technologies, ranging from low-emission to carbon-free.

Furthermore, the new, leading-edge machine and technology solutions are also in line with the Wirtgen Group value proposition: ‘close to our customers’. With its sustainable solutions, the Group wants to support its customers not only in satisfying the growing demand for infrastructure in a rapid and cost-efficient way, but also in already fulfilling the mounting requirements with respect to environmental protection as well as to safeguarding nature and humanity.