NordBau 2025: The Wirtgen Group sets standards with automated compaction

The company group presented two particular highlights at NordBau 2025: While the machines at the booth on the outdoor exhibition grounds fascinated visitors from across the industry, application specialists from the Wirtgen Group presented perfectly coordinated solutions for the production, processing and compaction of warm mix asphalt at the special exhibition titled ‘Warm mix asphalt – the future of asphalt construction’. The focus here was on Smart Compact Pro with the Realtime Density Scan from Hamm.

Today, the Wirtgen Group already provides solutions that address future challenges in the road construction process chain

On 1 January 2027, new workplace exposure limits for fumes and aerosols generated during the hot processing of bitumen will come into force in Germany. The changes this brings will make the use of warm mix asphalt (also known as warm asphalt or low-temperature asphalt, LTA) the sole standard in asphalt road construction. The potential for saving energy is one of the most important drivers of the shift towards the use of warm mix asphalt. This method enables compliance with the reduced workplace exposure limit of 1.5 mg/m³ for aerosols (formerly 10 mg/m³). At the same time, the new regulation brings a number of challenges for the construction industry because, as Sven Martens, Road North/West Sales Manager at the German sales and service organisation Wirtgen Deutschland Vertriebs- und Service GmbH, says, ‘it affects the entire paving process from asphalt production and paving to compaction.’ ‘With our specialised product brands, we at the Wirtgen Group already offer our customers coordinated, end-to-end solutions that enable the realisation of today’s and future construction projects profitably and in outstanding quality.’

Practical insights – focus on Smart Compact Pro from Hamm

Numerous visitors to the show took advantage of the opportunity to learn all about the method at the special exhibition titled ‘Warm mix asphalt – the future of asphalt construction’. The application specialists from the Wirtgen Group were at hand to answer any questions that arose, for instance, Friedhelm Pahlke. The Head of Sales for Germany and Austria from Joseph Vögele AG explained the most important details: ’Once the warm mix asphalt has been produced, it must be transported to the construction site as quickly as possible and paved and compacted without delays or interruptions. As the time window here is significantly shorter than for conventional asphalt paving, the logistics and the corresponding plant and machine components in the process chain are all the more important.’

The special exhibition focused on a new digital solution from Hamm, Smart Compact Pro. This is the first time that the real-time density has been registered by Realtime Density Scanning with a new sensor and integrated into an automated compaction process. Visitors were able to carry out real measurements on the simulator brought to the event and were able to experience at first hand not only how much easier it is to achieve the desired compaction quality, but also document the results. The time and effort otherwise required for quality assurance by core sampling is no longer necessary. ‘When it comes to compaction, Smart Compact Pro with Realtime Density Scan was the missing piece of the puzzle the industry had been waiting for’, says Dr Axel Muehlhausen, Product Manager Digital Solutions at Hamm AG.
Real-time density scanning brings a decisive advantage, particularly when using warm mix asphalt, as it avoids unnecessary double passes, increasing compaction quality. It makes it possible to extend the service life of road surfaces and reduce construction costs over time.

A Kleemann screening plant was the centre of attention for visitors to the show

The Wirtgen Group booth was also dominated by solutions for the road construction process chain – at least when it came to the number of exhibits. In addition to a small milling machine from Wirtgen, two Vögele pavers and Hamm tandem rollers, the company group also presented a mobile classifying screen from Kleemann. The MOBISCREEN MSC 703 EVO is used not only for processing natural stone and minerals in quarries, but also in recycling scenarios and for the production of aggregates for use in road construction.