At World of Concrete 2020, Wirtgen Group introduced an inset concrete paving train, consisting of two world premieres: the WPS 62i placer/spreader, and SP 124i slipform paver, as well as the TCM 180i texture curing machine.
In addition to the simulated paving train, the compact SP 25i and SP 15i concrete pavers will round out the range of inset and offset solutions Wirtgen plans to display at World of Concrete, which took place in Las Vegas from February 4 to 7.Â
Furthermore, Wirtgen introduced the North American Market to the AutoPilot 2.0 3D control system.
The WPS 62i placer/spreader
Visitors to the trade show in Las Vegas were the first trade audience in the world to get a glimpse of Wirtgen’s new WPS 62i placer/spreader with two track units.
In the case of pre-placed reinforcing steel, concrete must be supplied from the side. Placer/spreaders like the WPS 62i/WPS 62 are ideal for this application. As the first machine in Wirtgen’s paving train, the placer/spreader passes fresh concrete over pre-placed reinforcement in front of the slipform paver.
As well, a truck feeds the concrete from the side, which the placer/spreader then evenly distributes over the entire working surface.
The WPS 62i/WPS 62 is available with two different scraping units: in imperial with working widths between 12 feet and 24 feet and in metric with working widths from 4.00 metres to 7.5 metres. With both of them, the concrete can be laid up to 50 cm thick.
Thanks to its fully modular design, with standard hydraulic quick-change couplings, the WPS 62i/WPS 62 can be easily reconfigured and quickly prepared for jobsite or for transport, which increases the machine’s uptime.
The Wirtgen SP 124i inset slipform paverÂ
The Wirtgen SP 124i/SP 124, which made its North American debut at World of Concrete, is the first slipform paver with a working width of up to 12 metres that Wirtgen has equipped with four steerable and slewing crawler units.
It’s also available with an optional new hydraulic rotational drive system with a steering angle of up to 260 degrees. The additional maneuverability of the concrete paver allows the operator to quickly adapt the machine to the conditions on the job site.
The slipform paver’s narrow profile and reduced track line allows the paver to pave close to obstacles.
In addition, the four crawler units can be switched to rotation mode at the push of a button.
As a result, the SP 124i/SP 124 can turn almost on the spot and directly produce the next lane in the opposite direction without wasting any time on repositioning.
For transport, the swing legs are hydraulically swung in, further optimizing the transition from paving and decreasing downtime.
Texture/curing machine
The new TCM 180i/TCM 180 self-propelled texture/curing machine is the third machine in the Wirtgen paving train that was displayed at World of Concrete.Â
The machine is equipped with an automatic spraying and brooming system and directly follows the slipform paver to create the desired surface texture.
Finally, the spraying system applies a coating to the fresh concrete surface, preventing it from prematurely drying out. The modular design of the TCM 180i/TCM 180 supports working widths between 4 metres to 18 metres.
AutoPilot 2.0
Also making its North American debut is Wirtgen’s AutoPilot 2.0. The 3D control system can now create as many offset and inset profiles as required, in the field, even more cost-effectively and precisely.
In doing so, the system either uses an existing data model or creates a new digital data model on site, thereby eliminating the need for a surveyor to create a geodetic data model in advance.Â
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In addition, it also eliminates the time-consuming measuring, mounting and removal of stringlines, making the entire operation faster and more cost-effective overall. Wirtgen offers the AutoPilot 2.0 for the SP 15/SP 15i and SP 25/SP 25i models. It is also possible to upgrade machines with the new system.
