[VIDEO] 3D Paving Drives Racetrack Const.

Sept. 16, 2020

Caterpillar AP1055D and AP1055E asphalt pavers laid down the mix for new concrete pavement at the National Corvette Museum NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The location is a test track for Corvettes, with the Corvette museum and General Motor factory less than a mile away. 

Four Cat CB64 vibratory asphalt compactors handled breakdown, intermediate, and finish phases of compaction, achieving 92 percent to 93 percent density. According to the company, 3D paving technology played a huge part in preparation and paving the track. 

“During rough grading, the 3D AccuGrade dozers worked to within tolerances of tenths of a foot,” says JD Weis, general sales manager with SITECH™ Mid-South, which specializes in the sale of Trimble products. “Then machines equipped with 3D Total Station-based Cat AccuGrade systems were used to complete the more accurate grading, down to hundredths of a foot. Now we’re coming back with the 3D paving systems and getting the tolerances down to thousandths of a foot.”

The 3D paving system used slope control on the joint match side of the trailing paver screed and have consistent height match. This accomplishment underscores the speed, accuracy and inter-connectivity of the Trimble system.

Chris Higgins, engineering manager at Scotty’s Contracting & Stone, says the technology, at all steps of the process, enabled enormous productivity gains. “We never would have finished on time without it. The biggest benefit of 3D paving is it precisely and accurately achieves the design, giving us the smoothest, most consistent surface possible.”

Source: Caterpillar