Wirtgen showcased a complete concrete paving train comprising the new WPS 102i placer/spreader, an SP 94i slipform paver, and a TCM 180i texture curing machine at the World of Concrete 2020 expo in the US.
When road surfaces and paths are paved over pre-placed steel rebar, concrete can often only be supplied to the machine from the side. The placer/spreader, the leading machine in a paving train, travels over the pre-placed steel rebar ahead of the slipform paver and the texture curing machine. A truck feeds the concrete from the side, and the placer/spreader then evenly distributes it across the entire working width.
The new WPS 102i is Wirtgen’s latest addition to its range of two-track placer/spreaders. The concrete can be placed for working widths from 12 to 40 feet (4 to 12 m) at thicknesses of up to 20 inches (500 mm). With a fully modular machine design with standard hydraulic quick-change couplings, the WPS 102i can be as quickly and easily reconfigured as its “little brother”, the WPS 62i. This ensures fast transport from job to job and maximum machine availability. The WPS 102i can be precisely controlled by stringline scanning, stringless 3D applications, or Autopilot 2.0 from Wirtgen.
The SP 94i is a fully modular, 32-ft (10-meter) class inset slipform paver that can be used for in the construction of wide roads and highways, airport aprons, taxiways, and runways. The 4-track paver can be fitted with the TeleMold reconfiguration method, which enables fast and flexible alteration of the working width by up to 3 feet (1 m) on each side, resulting in an overall increase of 6 feet (2 m). Short reconfiguration times mean that paving contractors can look forward to high machine availability and utilization rates. In addition to the quick-change elements of the mold, the TeleMold is also equipped with a quick-change system for the metering gate and vibrator mountings. This means that crews can pave and reconfigure the working width all on the same day. The system can be fitted to SP 64i, SP 94i, and SP 124i slipform pavers.