Smallest Vögele paver at the top

Not an everyday job: In order to pave a footpath and transport route at the summit of the Niesen, the contractor had to transport the Vögele paver MINI 500 by funicular to the mountain station and load it by helicopter.

Because of its striking shape, the 2,362 m high Niesen in the Bernese Oberland is also known as the "Pyramid of the Alps". In order to prepare the popular mountain destination south of Lake Thun for the summer season, the path between the mountain station and the mountain restaurant had to be renovated. The 170 m route is used for food and beverage transportation and is frequented by around 1,000 people every day in the high season.

Tricky task

As the summit of the Niesen can only be reached by funicular or helicopter, the construction site logistics were a major challenge. Due to the high quality requirements, the surface course had to be laid by machine in a width of 1.8 to 4.3 m. In addition, the weather conditions were very difficult due to the altitude and exposed location. As a result of the low temperatures, the paving team had only a narrow time window each day for the paving work.

Paver transport by cable car

In order to pave the new surface course efficiently and to a high standard, the contractor, Marti AG Bern, opted for the MINI 500 from Vögele. The manufacturer's smallest road paver model is predestined for applications where narrow pave widths, compact dimensions, low weight and high paving quality are required: With a transport length of 2.6 m, a width of 0.9 m and a weight of 1.4 t, the site team was able to transport the paver to the mountain station using the Niesen cable car. The Niesenbahn is one of the longest funicular railroads in the world and climbs at a gradient of 68%in some places up to the mountain station. “The job was spectacular even before the actual paving. Transporting a road paver by cable car is not an everyday occurrence for us either," says paving foreman Iwan Hachen. "The MINI 500 is extremely compact and was extremely practical in terms of the requirements for this project."

Material feed by helicopter

Another challenge was the delivery of materials: The contractor used a helicopter to transport the hot asphalt to the paver as quickly as possible. It took the mix from the Thermo trucks 700 meters below the construction site and transferred it directly into the material hopper of the MINI 500 at intervals of just under four minutes.

Equipped with the AB 135 extending screed, including bolt-on extensions, the Vögele paver paved the 4 cm thick surface course over a width of 1.8 m - in several strips in some cases. The closely timed material transfer enabled a constant paving process. This enabled the construction team to complete the surfacing work, including the paving of the verge, in just two days.