A Wirtgen Concrete Paving Train Impresses with High Productivity in Texas

Concrete pavements with continuous reinforcement stand out for their low cost of upkeep. They are low-maintenance, extremely durable, and cost-effective. In Conroe, Texas, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Houston, Larry Young Paving Inc. is building a new connecting road using this construction method and leveraging the benefits of the new WIRTGEN WPS 62i placer/spreader in the process. With perfect weather and spring-like temperatures around 80° Fahrenheit (26° C), the belt conveyor of the placer/spreader is usually loaded by two mixer trucks at the same time. The complete unloading process always takes less than two minutes. As a result, the paving train covers an area of approx. 585 yd²/h (480 m²/h), which corresponds to an advance rate of approx. 3.3 ft/min (1 m/min).

When constructing roads with continuous reinforcement, the concrete is often placed and spread laterally with an excavator, since the transport vehicles cannot place the concrete directly in front of the paving train. This means the paver’s paving speed largely depends on how quickly and evenly the concrete is placed. By using the WPS 62i, the paving crew at Larry Young Paving Inc. was able to significantly increase the concrete feed rate. This, in turn, also increased the operating speed of the SP 62i slipform paver. Overall, the company was able to increase productivity by around 40% compared to previous job sites. Instead of the mixer trucks used here, dump trucks can also be used to deliver the concrete. This allows contractors to fully leverage the performance potential of the WPS and increase productivity even further. Although the company had originally expected the paving speed to increase as a result of using the placer/spreader, no one had anticipated such a significant improvement. In fact, they were able to wrap up the job after about four weeks, even though five weeks had been scheduled.

The use of three machines all designed to be perfectly compatible with each other leads to a number of advantages. In addition to the advantages that are directly reflected in the paving result, the ease of operation is a tremendous benefit. The machines are all controlled in a similar way thanks to an operating concept that is standardized across the entire fleet. This reduces the time needed to become familiar with the machines to a minimum and allows the operators to focus on what really counts, namely the paving result.

The paving crew is already extremely familiar with the WIRTGEN SP 62i’s operating concept and feels right at home using the machine. The machine has been used for several other projects and now has a few engine hours under its belt. One such project was completed about a year ago in the Southern Pointe residential area:

When they first encountered the new placer/spreader, the pros from Larry Young Paving Inc. were pleasantly surprised. “We already know the basics of how to operate and control the WPS from the paver,” says Ronnie Carter, assistant project manager at Larry Young Paving Inc. The short amount of time required to become familiar with the machine saves time and money, meaning that concrete paving can begin as quickly as possible. The paving crew also had nothing but good things to say about the remote control to adjust the height of the WPS’ strike-off wall. This makes it possible to conveniently adjust the height of the placed concrete remotely, for instance from the paver. This feature wasn’t introduced solely for reasons of convenience, however; it also contributes to perfect paving results. This is because on the paver, the operator can easily view and assess the fill level of the compaction chamber and the quantity of concrete being placed.