Customer demonstration with new paver

“Close to our customers“ is not merely a slogan for the Wirtgen Group. As a team of paving and asphalt experts puts SUPER 1900-5 through its paces in direct action, the specialists from Vögele are on hand to provide the customer with help and advice.

The construction site is somewhat hidden behind two large warehouses in an industrial and commercial area north-east of Vienna. Horst Kargl, head of the Vienna construction group at Austrian company Strabag SE,, and his team have gathered around the SUPER 1900-5. In the morning sun, the Highway Class paver gleams clean and ready for action.

The men’s eyes are fixed on André Felchner. He is head of application engineering at Vögele and a real veteran. He picks up a ratchet and demonstrates how an extension piece can be attached to the extending screed AB 600 in just a few simple steps.

Ideal conditions for testing and demonstrations

The access and exit routes to a site where a rental container site is to be opened are being paved. The SUPER 1900-5 is actually a bit oversized for this. With a laydown rate of up to 700 t/h and pave widths between 2.55 and 11.50 m, it is more at home on large-scale projects on motorways and highways. However, a representative of Strabag’s ZIB Test Center at BMTI GmbH in Vienna objects: “This place is ideal for demonstrations because it is on a cul-de-sac. This way, we are not disturbed, do not have to set up barriers, or adhere to time constraints.”

The central division Strabag BMTI is responsible for, among other things, the maintenance, servicing, and repair of all Strabag construction machinery. The ZIB Test Center initiated this machine test in collaboration with Michael Krögner from the Wirtgen Group sales and service branch in Austria. Strabag, Austria’s largest construction company, is an important customer and has been using a wide range of Wirtgen Group machines for many years.

The focus: Enhancement and perfection

That is why the enhancements of the new paver generation are particularly relevant for Horst Kargl: “We are primarily looking at the new Dash 5 technologies and automation functions,” he explains. The SUPER 1900 has been continuously developed since its introduction in 1999. In the Dash 5 generation, particular attention was paid to automatic and assistance functions, ease of operation and user comfort, sustainability, economy, and safety.

Safety and convenience from commissioning to decommissioning

Before paving begins, André Felchner demonstrates the new Dash 5 Paver Access Control (PAC) feature. The PAC control unit is located directly on the screed. All steps for starting up and shutting down are performed at the push of a button from the ground: switching on the lighting, starting the engine, booting the machine control system, raising and locking the hardtop, and lowering the screed. Felchner explains: "While the machine is heating up, you can prepare everything on the PAC panel – without having to climb onto the machine. When you are ready, connect the screed control console using Quick Connect without any connecting cables, and you are ready to go.”

Drivers, screed operators, and coworkers are getting familiar with their new equipment. When it comes to the paving team, the representative from the ZIB Test Center is interested in precisely these hard facts – technical features and characteristics, spare parts, availability, the service network, and, of course, the price. But soft factors also play a role. In particular, how the paving team experiences the paver and how they respond to the new features of the Dash 5 generation.

More comfort and ergonomics:
Operating concept ErgoPlus 5

The developers at Vögele are also well aware of how important user acceptance is. That is why they have further optimized the ErgoPlus operating concept. The operation of individual functions has been simplified, the design improved, the height reduced to provide more legroom, and additional storage options, for example for smartphones, have been integrated. Thanks to the smartwheel, the SUPER 1900-5 can also be fine-tuned more accurately than its predecessor. The optional ‘Premium Touch’ display screen allows users to easily monitor and control existing and future digital solutions.

Automation reduces user workload

Thomas Schuh, Product Manager at Vögele, traveled to Vienna with André Felchner from the main plant in Ludwigshafen. He explains the new automatic function Grade Assist on site – an extension of the proven Auto Grade Plus system for automated grade and slope control. It helps the operator to accurately install the road using predefined hardtop and cross-section profiles. All he has to do is set the inclination of a target point, and the system automatically approaches this value at a steady pace.

With just a few keystrokes, the paving parameters are entered on the screed control console. “This is a huge relief for us,” says Paving Supervisor Thomas Strasser. “Previously, everything had to be controlled manually.” The screed width can also be automatically controlled along a tensioned wire with the Edge Control system. The automatic screed width function from AutoTrac ensures that the screed side without conductive wire also extends or retracts accordingly, keeping the paving width constant.

Improved flow of mix and optimal precompaction

The Strabag professionals are also showing great interest in the revised material transport control system: Because the auger and scraper belts now “communicate” with each other, material feed is even more precisely coordinated. This enables optimum material presentation and thus uninterrupted paving. The hydraulically adjustable limiting plates for auger tunnel of the Power Tunnel also ensure an optimum mix height in front of the screed and adapt to the screed width.

Felchner also explains a practical function of the Dash 5 extending screed AB 600 – the hydraulic tamper stroke adjustment: With the Dual Power Shift Tamper, operators can easily adjust the tamper stroke at the touch of a button. This saves a lot of time compared to mechanical adjustment and is particularly practical when working with varying layer thicknesses. “This significantly reduces setup times and is, of course, very convenient,” says Strasser.

Direct exchange provides valuable feedback

The users who operated the Vögele SUPER 1900-5 for the first time today are satisfied. The machine has proven itself, and the quality of its work is impressive. Thomas Schuh and André Felchner also draw a positive conclusion: “The team was very interested and quickly became familiar with the machine. The new features and the new operating concept have also been very well received. This direct exchange with our customers and users is very important and valuable to us and our work. After all, we want to tailor our machines to the needs of our customers.”