VOGELE’S Super 1900-3 tracked paver proved it is a class of its own when it comes to versatility and flexibility on a key approach road project in Turkey.

Antmos Asfalt, the construction company working on the 500-m stretch of road, realised the benefits of the paver when working on the project in the Antalya region.

The 500-m stretch is the approach road to the five-star seafront Regnum Carya Golf and Spa Resort, which opened officially in the summer of last year. The road works involved laying a 15-cm-thick crushed-stone base and a 10-cm-thick asphalt base.

Antmos Asfalt has three Vogele pavers. According to site manager Serdar Kocyigit, the new Super 1900-3 is one of the best ‘“workhorses in the stable”, and for good reason; the powerful and versatile paver has a laydown rate of up to 900 tonnes per hour. He says the Super 1900-3 is an absolute must-have machine that can be used for a wide range of jobs and was therefore also the best choice in this case.

“The bulk of our contracts are for access roads, connecting roads and highways with varying requirements – encompassing everything from pure pavement rehabilitation jobs to the construction of new roads,” says Kocyigit.

Providing details of the project, Kocyigit says, the 15-cm crushed-stone base was laid at first, followed by the 10-cm asphalt base. The Super 1900-3 fitted with a Vogele AB 600 TV extending screed, which was equipped with tamper and vibrators, was used for the paving operation. This screed has a basic width of 3 m and extends hydraulically up to 6 m. Since the total pave width ranged between 10 m and 12 m, the Super 1900-3 laid two strips of 4.5 m to 6 m each. This meant that the machine had to be repositioned several times.

AutoSet Plus stores all the settings, saving time.

According to a spokesman for Vogele, the new AutoSet Plus repositioning and transport function on the unit was a valuable aid on this job site and guaranteed a consistent paving quality while saving a great deal of time.

Explaining the function, he says: “The paver is put into transport mode automatically with a single push of a button before repositioning. This causes the hopper front, auger, screed and deflectors in front of the crawler tracks to be raised, conveyors reversed, the screed locked in position and all settings saved.

“After repositioning, another push of the button is all it takes to reset the systems to the previous working positions.”

Antmos opted for the Vogele AB 600 TV extending screed because of the pave width of each strip that varied between 4.5 m and 6 m. The screed allows changes to be made in the pave width without a need for any conversion on the paver.

The work was made easier still by another new Dash 3 function.

“The efficient, hitch-free completion of the whole project was down not least to the new ergonomics functions of the Dash 3 paver, since everything which makes the work easier boosts the concentration of the team, enhancing the paving quality in the process,” says the spokesman.

With the Dash 3 generation, Vogele has once again set a singular milestone in user-friendliness and quality, he adds.

In addition, the ErgoPlus 3 screed operator’s console comes with the useful SmartWheel for infinitely variable screed width control.

Screed operator Huseyin Arkoc says he was impressed. “With the SmartWheel, I can infinitely extend and retract the screed with one finger. And I can do this at two speeds: slow, if I want to go along an edge, or fast, if I want to extend or retract the screed quickly.”

Vogele Super 1900-3 has also rendered the communication problems between the feed lorry driver and the paver operator a thing of the past. The new PaveDock Assistant simplifies the process of transferring the mix from the lorry to the paver through the use of clear light signals, such as for reverse, stop, dumping the mix, etc.

Vogele is a member of the Wirtgen Group, which operates on an international basis in the construction equipment industry. The group comprises the four Germany-based brands of Wirtgen, Vogele, Hamm and Kleemann and has local production facilities as well in the US, China and Brazil.