Mobilising Pavers Market

Paver manufacturers are offering a wealth of asphalt and concrete laying and composition solutions, and covering the entire product value chain. P.P. Basistha takes a look at the brands offering in the market.

Buoyed by large scale asphalt and concrete road projects, paver manufacturers are expanding and enhancing their product range to offer faster productivity, better quality, application flexibility and competitive pricing, along with the requisite timely servicing of their machines.

Wirtgen India’s Vogele Super 1403 wheeled paver, for instance, raises the bar for quality and performance of pavers with its modern design, robust chassis, material conveying system, and high tech components. Affirms Mr. Ramesh Palagiri, MD, Wirtgen India, “The new Super 1403, which is made in India under the aegis of Wirtgen’s Indo-German development team, is driven by a powerful 6-cylinder, 112kW Cummins diesel engine. Effective cooling ensures reliable operation and full power utilization, even under extreme tropical conditions. The ergonomics and fit-for-purpose ergobasic operating concept provides an optimum overview while ensuring operating comfort for the paver and the screed.”

One of the advantages of the Super 1403 is its wheeled undercarriage with separate hydraulic drives and optional drive of two front wheels (6x4), which lend the machine outstanding manœuvrability. Combined with the bogie-mounted front wheels that maintain constant ground contact, the wheeled paver also achieves excellent traction. The hydraulics drive the material handling system precisely, ensuring an optimum head of mix in front of the screed at all times. This enables the state-of-the-art AB 480 TV extendable screed with optional electric heating to lay down high-quality surfaces in widths from 2.55m to 4.8m and ranging up to 6m with bolt-on extensions. The maximum laydown rate of Super 1403 Vogele paver is 600t/h.

Wirtgen’s new Super 1400 tracked paver is targeted for motorway construction as well as winding city streets.The paver, like the 1403, is driven by a 6-cylinder, 112kW Cummins diesel engine with similar cooling provisions. 1400 can lay down surfaces in widths from 2.55m to 4.8m and ranging up to 7.3m with bolt-on extensions. The maximum laydown rate of the paver is 600t/h. Says Mr. Palagiri, “The long crawler tracks of 1400 with separate hydraulic drives guarantee maximum traction in all situations. Both the machines come with typical Vogele features of simple maintenance with easy access to all vital service points.”

Apollo Inffratech Group is promoting its HEM, USA make slip form concrete pavers in the Indian market under its exclusive distribution tie-up. Mr. Mitul Patel, Managing Director, Apollo Inffratech Group, informs: “Our HEM pavers have distinct technological advantages that are evident in the simple operations of the mechanical and hydraulic systems that use less electronics and are easy to maintain. Our pavers come in different range of widths from 2.75 to 13.5 meters for any type of road construction work.”

Mr. Patel Says, concrete slip form pavers manufactured by HEM, USA have advanced features like hard surfaced auger for spreading concrete, Temper bar system for better finish of the surface, Bigger & Adjustable Paving pan for better compaction area. Universal hydraulic system allows interchangeability of hydraulic pumps in case of emergency to run the basic functions of the machine. HEM Slip form pavers provides high- performance paving operation with utmost precision.


Apollo Inffratech Group provides complete service and maintenance for optimum utilization of the slip form pavers. Our customers will get service support from commissioning of the equipment during the initial stage to completion of the entire road project. The company also provides operator training and timely availability of parts whenever needed.


Volvo CE India is keen to expand its footprint in the bituminous paver market with its newly launched P6820C ABG paver. Powered by Volvo’s D6E COM IIIA/EPA Tier 3 engine, it is fitted with an emission-compliant engine. Fuel consumption is further reduced when the operator uses smart power mode, which lowers engine RPM to match power and demand — resulting in close to 30% fuel savings. Reduced noise levels can be attributed to sound lowering components and a robust frame

Says Mr. Dimitrov Krishnan, Vice President and Head of Volvo CE India, “P6820C ABG offers a winning combination of power, production capacity, and precision for excellent paving quality, with perfectly smooth mats. The new tracked paver – equipped for high performance – is an all-around paving solution, and is considerably more powerful than its predecessor, while providing lower fuel consumption and less noise.”

P6820C, with the Volvo variomatic screed, offers a high degree of flexibility when frequently changing paving widths, up to twice the basic screed width — from 2.5 to 5 or from 3 to 6 meters. By adding extensions, it can pave up to 9-meter widths. With a Volvo fixed screed, P6820C is proven to be effective when paving up to 700 tons per hour at 9 meters width. This level of throughput makes the paver versatile enough for a range of applications, including municipal and main roads, highways and waste storage areas. It can also handle a range of materials from wearing course and binder course to base course and frost protection layers. Independent hydrostatic drives for both bar conveyors and augers, ensure the paving material is delivered evenly to both sides of the screed.

Maximum achievable mat thickness of P6820C is 300 mm and rated paving output is 700 tph. The intelligent systems, the swiveling, tilting, extendable control panel of P6 820C features the newest Electronic Paver Management II system (EPM II), which controls all functions and guides the operator step by step through the functions. The easy-to-read back-lit controls on the panel permit working around the clock. The EPM II also monitors fuel consumption and manages service intervals to alert the operator when routine maintenance is due. For security, all electronic control panels, including the EPM II, can be removed and stored in a lockable compartment.

“Wide contact area crawler tracks combined with good weight distribution allow effective transfer of engine power to the ground. The rubber pad-clad crawler units are maintenance-free and have individual electronically controlled drives for each track. Maintenance of the P6820C track paver has been simplified, with improved service access from the operator’s platform to service points, via large opening compartments,” adds Mr. Dimitrov.


SANY India has positioned its SAP series of asphalt pavers as a more economical solution, along with high fuel efficiency, reliability and servicing. “We are promoting the pavers and graders to excavator owners as part of packaged products and to smaller crane rental agencies involved in road projects,” says Mr. Sanjay Saxena, Vice President and Head- Heavy Equipment Business Unit , SANY Heavy Industry India Pvt. Ltd. The company will be promoting its road equipment solutions through direct sales, and is also in the process of setting up a marketing and service team. It may even consider appointing dealers in a phased manner. SANY’s paver range consists of SAP 130C-6, SAP 200C-65, SAP 240C-65, SSP 220C-65 with a paving range of 2-5.7 meters.


Gujarat based manufacturer Unipave since 1973 is offering mechanical and sensor pavers which are capable of working with bituminous, wetmix, DLC, GSB & DBM materials. Unipave’s sensor paver models ESP-045 and ESP-05 comes with hydraulically extendable screed from 2.5 meters to 4.5 meters and ESP-05 can pave roads up to width of 5.5 meters with bolt on extensions. ASP-075 is new model of the company and it has maximum screed width of 7.5 meters. Unipave pavers have robust conveyor, screed and chassis that ensure less maintenance and high productivity. The company offers MOBA sensor devices which can sense slope & grade and adjust screed accordingly.

Says Mr. Vishal Surelia, Managing Partner, Unipave Engineering Products, “The rated output of our sensor pavers is between 125-400 TPH. We can ensure higher uptime, reliability and productivity of our mechanical pavers and sensor pavers due to its high quality components such as hydraulic pump & motors imported from Germany and sensor solutions from MOBA.”

Looking to drive sales through its economical offerings, Unipave is counting on its wide range of mechanical pavers that comprise UAP-045, HAP-045, HAP-045HC, HAP-045HD, and UWM-05. The pavers come with rated output between 100-150 TPH. The paver model HAP-045 comes with options like Hydraulic Conveyor System as well as Hydraulic Drive & Conveyor System. Unipave dealers in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Odisha provide the requisite sales and service support to customers.

Fixed Form Advancements

Demand has also been moving up for concrete compaction solutions required for constricted spaces where the standard asphalt or slip-form may not be ideal due to their standard extensions. Application areas include rural roads, smaller stretches of city roads, or areas requiring smaller volumes of concrete feed of 25-45 cum/hr feed (as compared to 150-200 cum/hr feed), and supported by higher capacity batching plants and transit mixers.

Mr. Nagesh Kudva, Technical Advisor KYB Conmat, says, “With the provision for adding extensions, our fixed form pavers are versatile, adjustable and economical. They are highly suitable for concreting large depth slabs of roads such as city roads and rural road projects being undertaken under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Fixed form solutions are also ideal for construction of footpaths, Industrial floorings, airport taxiways, runways, water reservoirs, and canals.”

KYB Conmat manufactures two models of fixed form pavers – the CE 200F and the heavy-duty CF 200F - HD at its facility in Vadodara. The features of the pavers according to Mr. Kudva consists of larger depth upto 450 mm thick slab and wider paving span, surface tolerance of 3mm in 3mtr meeting NHAI / AAI specifications. The added features includes, inbuilt camberin, ease of operation, totally oil, Provision for in-built attachment for needle vibrator.

He says, “Superior compaction and surface finish of the pavers is delivered by built-in vibratory cylinder.” He informs, “Our pavers are supplied with inbuilt vibrators such as pav vibrators delivering 3000 vpm upto 200 mm thick slab and rcc slab and needle vibrators delivering rated 9000 vpm. The needle vibrator are adjustable for slabs above 200 mm upto 450 mm thick for taking out the air voids / pockets from the concrete mix. Both the pavers, which come on rail run module, can be made to work between 1 to 16-meter extensions, which makes them suitable for varied applications, and have advanced electronic control panels and vibrators for superior performance.”


KYB Conmat has supplied close to 17 of its fixed form pavers for concrete city road projects in Nagpur, Aurangabad, Chandrapur and Akola. Earlier, it had supplied about 7 units of its CE 200F for laying taxiway and runways for the defense airport project in Arunachal Pradesh to contractor M/S. NCC Ltd (Nagarjuna Construction Company). The pavers have worked with 5-meter extensions in the projects.

Servicing and maintenance to the pavers due to frequent wearing down is provided by Kyb Conmat through its centres in Delhi, Vadodara, Nagpur, Indore, Raipur, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The company also provides operator training during the commissioning period followed by free visits.

Due to the varied nature of applications of fixed form pavers, manufacturers have been making technical improvements in their machines and also expanding their range.

Gujarat based Unisteel manufactures its pavers in house along with the control panels, augers and needles vibrators, and has its own sales and service network. Its heavy-duty fixed form paver PVR 1001 can work at widths of 15-35 meters with almost 10,500 vpb and RCP 750 between 2000-3000 vpb for 3-21 wide widths.

Informs Mr. Vipin Surelia, Partner, Unisteel, “We have the capability to deliver customized paving solutions based on the project needs. We recently supplied RCP 750 with 8-meter deadweight for one-meter wide canal. Initially, we were offering our fixed form pavers on standard normal rails for paving jobs. This required lifting the equipments through the jacks while paving on uneven surfaces; it was entirely mechanical. Moving forward, we were the first in the industry to add sensors to the pavers to gauge the surface unevenness. This innovation was carried out by cutting down on the rails and adding pneumatic wheels with sensors attached.”

Venus Equipment, another Gujarat-based manufacturer of fixed form concrete pavers offers its Venus range of skid pavers mounted on common rails, and Venus screed pavers on shuttering.It has supplied its fixed form pavers for city road projects in Jaipur developed by contractors Ramesh Kumar Bansal and HG infra engineering Pvt. Ltd. and many other construction companies in rajasthan, Gujarat and M.P.

“With shuttering, the pavers can work at ease where there are difficulties in laying the rails,” informs Mr. Jigar Patel, GM-Sales & Marketing, Venus Equipment. “The Venus screed pavers are capable of paving a standard width of 3-3.5-4.5-5-6 meters.The rail-mounted ones are capable of paving 3-15 meters. This can be enhanced through added extensions. The pavers require concrete feed of 20-35 cum/hr.

The company’s products include the VI 4500 concrete screed paver and the FU 7000 fixed form rail mounted paver. The fixed form paver on fabricated rail is fitted with hydraulic jacks for ease of operation, and has a separate seat for the operator. Says Mr. Patel, “Since it is manufactured completely in-house,we have been able to price it at an economical Rs 15-20 lakhs. High quality and reliability is ensured through use of advanced components sourced from reputed OEMs such as Greaves for the gear motors, and electrical Switch gears from Schneider and Siemens.”


Conclusion

The colossal expansion of road infrastructure has widened the scope for paver manufacturers to expand their range and enhance their backed by value propositions, based on customers’ requirements. However, the pace of product development and promotions will be required to be equally backed by adequate levels of product service support.