Surface Layer Rehabilitation

Fast and effective pavement replacement in road construction

Replacing the pavement is a standard procedure when repairing roads. The challenge is to ensure that only the damaged layers of the road structure are removed - and to avoid disruptions to traffic at the same time. Under these conditions, cold milling is the only viable option for many construction projects

Milling off the surface layer

The tools that cold milling machines use for removing road layers were originally developed for the mining industry. So-called point-attack cutting tools, fitted to a rotating milling drum on the underside of the machine, bite into the road at precisely the specified depth. No material is too hard for these tools: Cold planers are even capable of rehabilitating concrete pavements. Whether asphalt or concrete: The material is milled and then directly loaded on trucks to be transported from site, all in one single pass.

Rapid progress thanks to mobile roadworks

Because traffic is often slow-moving in the area of the job site, car drivers mock the massive cold milling machines by saying that they’re always first in the traffic jam. Few bear in mind, however, that rehabilitation projects using cold milling machines are mostly carried out as mobile roadworks. Alternative methods would involve a much greater effort. Cold milling of road pavements is unrivalled in terms of both logistics and speed of execution.

"WIRTGEN large milling machines are powerhorses for large-scale removal."
WIRTGEN large milling machines

Combining road milling machines

Not all cold milling machines are as big as a whole apartment. Some models are as small as a passenger car. On many job sites, machines of different sizes frequently work as a team, each one playing its own aces: The large milling machine removes the large surfaces, while the small one takes care of milling off the pavement around “nuisances”, such as manhole covers or kerbstones.

Application of the new surface layer

Typical of rehabilitation projects using cold milling machines is that the removed layers are usually replaced with asphalt – irrespective of whether the damaged pavement was originally made of asphalt or concrete. This work is performed by road pavers. A road paver is capable of paving the new layers quickly and with outstanding quality. State-of-the-art automatic levelling systems make it possible to precisely adapt the height of the new surface layer to the existing pavement.

“The right paver for every application.”
VÖGELE pavers

Final compaction of the new asphalt layer

Rollers following directly behind the paver then carry out the final compaction of the new asphalt layer. When road pavers and rollers are busy at work on a job site, drivers also have reason to rejoice – this usually means that it won’t be long before traffic can flow freely once again.

Hamm following behind Vögele has proven to be a successful approach to surface layer reha-bilitation and road construction in general.

Advantages of replacing the pavement with Wirtgen Group machines

Rapid execution on site, minimal preparation, simple logistics
Improved surface quality
Can be completed with standard equipment
Always stay on top of things

In this interview, Bernd Holl, Product Manager Cold Milling Machines at WIRTGEN, explains why cold milling is so important when replacing the pavement.

To the Interview

Product presentation

W 210 Fi

Large milling machine

Exhaust emissions category
EU Stage 5/US EPA Tier 4f
Milling width
2,000 mm
Milling depth max.
330 mm

Job reports on pavement replacement projects

Road rehabilitation
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