Guntert & Zimmerman

Construction ProfilesFall 2009

Hawkins Construction

New TelescopicEnd Sectionspg. 6

Cold Spring Construction

First Dowel BarInsert in NYpg. 1

Thiess

Paving Trainin Australiapg. 11

Flynn

Iowa Goes Stringlesspg. 9

An Eye For QualityCold Spring Construction Paves with First Successful DBI in New York State

Change comes slowly. The concrete paving industry is constantly

working for more market share in states that have typically been

more asphalt friendly. The benefits of using concrete over asphalt

have been proven time and time again. Concrete pavements

are stronger, longer lasting, more durable, and environmentally

friendly. The advantages of concrete pavements are even more

dramatic in areas that experience freeze thaw cycles and repeated

deicing salt applications. One of those areas of this country is

upstate New York, where winter weather coming off the Great

Lakes causes extreme snow levels and ice accumulation.

The State of New York has not been an active concrete paving

market for some time. Part of the reason for lack of concrete

activity has to do with previous installations that were poorly

constructed. Over time however, concrete pavement design,

construction practices, and equipment have evolved. Because

of these changes, contractors are able to construct extremely

smooth concrete pavements that will last over fifty years with

minimal maintenance. With a market positioned to offer the

best engineered solution for America’s crumbling infrastructure,

there has never been a better time to consider the use of concrete

pavements.

The New York State Thruway, which owns and operates the

I-90 corridor through upstate New York, recognized the

inherent problems and short life of the asphalt overlays it was

constructing. For this reason it chose to reconstruct a 15 mile

(24.14 km) stretch of interstate around Weedsport, NY with a

concrete section. Once the design decision was made to use

concrete, it was incredibly important to award the project to a

contractor that not only was quality minded but also understood

the importance of this project and the influence it has on the

future of concrete in the State of New York.

It was a benefit to the concrete market that Cold Spring

Construction was awarded the project. Cold Spring

Construction has been a staple of quality and precision in

the Buffalo area since 1911. Started by Eugene Forrestel, the

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company has been passed down through three generations with

the next generation coming up through the ranks. Cold Spring’s

success over the years can be attributed to always having an

eye for quality. As the concrete market begins to thaw in New

York, we can all breathe a large sigh of relief that Cold Spring has

represented the concrete market well.

When awarded the I-90 job, Cold Spring’s President, Steve

Forrestel, went searching for the proper equipment solution.

With that keen eye for quality, Forrestel decided to go with a

G&Z S850 Slipform Paver. “Our goal is to be as competitive as

possible, and we believe the G&Z gives us that capability,” says

Steve Forrestel. As the project plans began to become finalized,

it was clear that the project would be much better suited using

a mechanical dowel bar inserter rather than welded dowel

assemblies for the placement of load transfer dowels in the

transverse joint. Prior to this project, mechanical dowel bar

inserters had never been successfully used in the state, but Cold

Spring recognized the quality of the end product, productivity

increases, and potential cost savings with its use. Through several

meetings and communication between the Thruway, Cold

Spring, and G&Z, the Thruway allowed the use of G&Z’s Compact

Dowel Bar Inserter (CDBI). A tolerance specification and QA

program was developed to ensure the accurate placement of the

dowel bars in the pavement. The end goal of these collaborative

efforts was to ensure 1) load transfer capability of the joint wasn’t

compromised due to dowel bar position and 2) the dowel bar

could be inserted to meet specification with the equipment being

used. There are many criteria for the specification to be met, with

the strictest being a vertical and horizontal tolerance of +/- 15 mm

along the length of the bar. “During the course of my career in

concrete pavement construction, I have never seen 4 different

parties (New York Thruway Authority, Cold Spring Construction,

Guntert & Zimmerman, and Craig Greene, Hanson) work together

in an effort to produce the best quality concrete pavement ever

slipformed in upstate New York . This effort started months

before the first yard of concrete was ever poured. It was because

of this pooling of knowledge, experience, and attention to detail

that the optimal concrete mix was designed, batched, and placed

which resulted in a quality, durable, and smooth pavement,” said

Bill Stewart, Paving Superintendent .

The I-90 project near Weedsport, NY is the single largest concrete

paving contract ever awarded in the state of New York. The 3

year project consists of 15 miles (24.14 km) of dual lane concrete

pavement. The New York Thruway Authority’s I-90 is a major

thoroughfare between New York City and the rest of the country.

The first of two 5 mile (8 km) eastbound sections were completed

Ryan ForrestelAssistant Superintendent

Steve ForrestelPresident Dick Forrestel

Chairman

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in 2009 with three 5 mile (8 km) eastbound / westbound sections

scheduled for 2010 and one remaining west bound sections

scheduled for 2011.

Historically, this particular portion of the NY Thruway has always

required intensive maintenance because of the combination

of poor soils, freeze/thaw cycles, and exposure to deicing salts.

Over the years there have been numerous asphalt overlays on

this stretch of roadway sometimes as frequent as every couple of

years.

For this particular reconstruction project, the Thruway wanted

to design a pavement that would last 40-50 years with little

maintenance other than occasional CPR (Concrete Preservation

Restoration) procedures every 10 years or more. CPR is a total

system that includes undersealing, partial depth replacement,

and spall repairs, grooving and grinding of pavement surface,

cleaning and resealing of joints, and shoulder restoration.

The existing slab was 25 ft (7.62 m) wide with 9 in (22.86 cm) of

concrete overlaid several times with asphalt and reinforced with

wire mesh. The reconstructed 2-lane concrete pavement section

is 26 ft (7.9 m) wide and 13 in (33 cm) thick with a 10 ft (3 m)

asphalt shoulder on the right and a 12 ft (3.65 m) asphalt shoulder

on the left. The concrete pavement section is supported by a 4 in

(10 cm) layer of permeable concrete base over a 12 in (30 cm)

sub-base layer of recycled concrete.

Demolition work began in May 2009 with the first concrete paving

starting around the Fourth of July holiday. The demolition work

consisted of milling off the top layer of asphalt, excavating the old

9 in concrete section, and crushing the concrete to be recycled

as sub-base. Even with several undercut sections that needed

remediation, the 2nd 5 mile (8 km) section of concrete was

completed October 8th on schedule for a traffic move onto the

new pavement in mid-November. “The G&Z is well built to handle

large piles of concrete in front of the paver which helps us keep

up with the plant production and meet our needed production

rates,” praises Steve Forrestel.

Transverse joints are spaced every 14 ft 9 in (4.5 m) with a

longitudinal joint positioned in the center of the two lanes

spanning the length of the pavement. The transverse joints are

reinforced with 1-5/8 in x 18 in load transfer dowels bars, while

the longitudinal joint is tied with 5/8 in x 36 in deformed tie

bars.

Cold Spring purchased a G&Z S850 and CDBI specifically for this

project because they knew to meet the tight production schedule

and stringent smoothness and dowel bar tolerance specifications

they needed the best that technology could offer. Ryan Forrestel,

Assistant Superintendent commented, “The S850 with CDBI is an

extremely complicated machine but is so well engineered that it

performs flawlessly. It is exciting to work around a machine that

gives us the capability of putting out the best possible product.”

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The S850 with CDBI has performed excellently on the job. Steve

Curtis, Paver Operator states, “The S850 worked well from the

start. Right out of the box. Everyone at Cold Spring has been

really pleased.” Speaking of the dowel bar inserter, Dick Forrestel,

Chairman of Cold Spring, states, “It’s now a brand new ball game.

This solves the problems and headaches of paving over baskets.”

As part of the quality assurance program that Cold Spring

submitted to the Thruway, they purchased an MIT scanner and

trained one of their young promising engineers to measure the

position of the dowels in every joint after each pour was complete.

The location of dowels in the pavement has been excellent at the

end of phase one 95,186 bars had been inserted with less than

0.5% of the bars misaligned. The majority of the misaligned bars

occurred during the first few pours when typical start-up issues

with an operation of this magnitude were being addressed. This

percentage is well below typical industry standards for projects

using either welded dowel assemblies or mechanical dowel bar

inserters. Because of the proactive stance that Cold Spring has

undertaken by measuring each dowel for its correct positioning,

the Thruway has gained significant confidence in the work

that Cold Spring performs as well as the performance of the

G&Z equipment they use. “Solving the dowel bar issue with a

DBI really solves the problem and that’s good for the concrete

industry,” says Dick Forrestel.

The G&Z requires little to no extra finishing behind the paver.

Extremely sharp edges produced by G&Z’s edger sideforms.

G&Z CDBI poised to insert dowels.

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Guntert & Zimmerman

SAME G&Z QUALITY, SAME G&Z SMOOTHNESS.

Half Width Slipform Paver

COMING SOON

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To the contractor, the well-known phrase “time is money” could

not be closer to the truth. Schedules and backlogs pile up, and

the need for quality equipment to fulfill needed production

rates and schedules is an ever increasing commodity. One of

the largest constraints to a concrete paving operation is time

consuming paving kit width changes on the slipform paver. With

the bidding table becoming more competitive, a contractor that

can offer a shorter paving schedule, which offers the pavement

ready for use to the highway or airport authority in a faster time

frame, often has a competitive advantage. It is no surprise that

technology is being designed and developed to achieve quicker

width changes to meet the need of contractors who are willing

to bid using aggressive production rates. Guntert & Zimmerman

(G&Z) has produced such a technology.

G&Z’s New Telescopic Paving Kit Terminal End Sections (patent

pending) allow the contractor to perform width changes in an

extremely shortened amount of time and with fewer personnel.

The New Telescopic End Sections give the contractor 6 feet (1.8 m)

of quick width change capability 3 feet (.9 m) on each side. In

the past, the challenges with similar technologies has been that

contractors using quick width change solutions were faced with

sacrificing smoothness; this resulted in an inability to use the

technology on projects that had a tight smoothness specification.

The G&Z Telescopic End Sections address not only the need for

quick width changes but also the need for quick width changes

without adversely affecting pavement smoothness. It has always

been a source of pride for G&Z that its customers are confident

in the smoothness produced by the rigid and highly productive

S850 and S1500 slipform paving machines. The sacrifice of

smoothness was never an option to G&Z design engineers when

developing these new end sections.

Hawkins Construction Company based in Omaha, NE was

the first contractor to take delivery of G&Z’s New Telescopic

End Sections. Hawkins bid a project at Eppley Airfield with an

extremely aggressive paving schedule. In the past, the options that

would have given them any hope of meeting the schedule were to

have two to three paving kits on-site sectionalized for each pour

or to work the job with two pavers. Using multiple paving kits

still requires a lot of break-down and set-up time which requires

the use of a mechanic’s crane. The cost of multiple paving kits

can be expensive and often times deters contractors from going

this route. Using two pavers is definitely a high cost option and

Time Is Money

Hawkins Construction Paves With New G&Z Telescopic End Sections

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a logistical nightmare for a contractor who has other projects

where the paver could be used. Logistically it is too difficult to

move a paver back and forth between jobsites. A contractor must

consider the lost productivity when a paver is sitting idle. Hiring

a second paving crew to work simultaneously usually is not a

solution because the concrete batch plant often can’t supply

enough concrete to two pavers.

Hawkins and G&Z decided to team up to solve this issue and

develop a viable option to gain telescopic capability within the end

sections of the paving kit. Over a six month period, the engineers

at G&Z, along with input from Terry Kirsch – Equipment

Manager at Hawkins, designed the New Telescopic End Sections.

While the manufacturing process of the entire S850 Slipform

Paver with the Telescopic End Sections was proceeding through

the G&Z plant, Hawkins was present at critical design junctions

to offer suggestions which led to many design improvements

and changes through the process. Terry Kirsch, Ron Mockelman

(Lead Paving Mechanic) and Abraham Adame (Paver Operator)

from Hawkins observed and participated in the final assembly

and testing of the S850 Paver with the Telescopic End Sections.

Hawkins took delivery of the G&Z S850 on April 20, 2009. The

paver has performed above and beyond their expectations. The

aggressive schedule they aligned for the paver is no match for the

capabilities of the machine.

This phase of the Eppley Airfield project consisted of the

reconstruction of Runway 14R-32L and intersecting Taxiway/

Runway 1836. All concrete sections were replaced with 17 inches

(43.18 cm) of jointed plain concrete pavement with 21 in (53.34 cm)

thickened edges in specific locations. The material beneath these

slabs consisted of a 17 in (43.18 cm) sand layer, a 6 in (15.24 cm)

crushed limestone layer, and a 6 in (15.24 cm) layer of cement

treated base (CTB). The runway (14R-32L) section that is being

reconstructed is 6,000 ft (1,828.8 m) long by 150 ft (45.72 m) wide.

This stage of the project included alternating pour widths of 20 ft

(6.09 m), 16.5 ft (5.02 m), and 18.5 ft (5.63 m) for the 150 ft (45.72 m)

wide section. The pour widths were laid out by the designer in

order to accommodate a specific joint pattern. The Taxiway/

Runway 1836 section that is being reconstructed is 3,000 ft (914.4 m)

long and 150 ft (45.72 m) wide. The 150 ft (45.72 m) width was

made up of 8 pours at 18 ft 9 in (5.71 m) each.

With regards to the project schedule, the critical path on this

project was the 120 day window that the airport gave Hawkins

to tear out the intersection of the runways plus 1,000 ft (304.8 m)

on either side of the intersection. This is the part of the project

that required the greatest number and most frequent width

changes with the paver. The Runway 14R-32L section had three

different paving widths with almost daily width changes required.

Hawkins finished this critical stage of the project in less than half

the time given in the allotted 120 day window which allowed the

airport authority to open the runway back up ahead of schedule.

2 days of work becomes a matter of hours.

Pour Schedule for Week of the July 6th

Date Day of Week

No. of Slips Pavement Dimensions

7/6/09 Monday 2 16.5 X 400’

7/7/09 Tuesday 1 20’ X 400’

7/9/09 Thursday 2 20’ X 400’

7/10/09 Friday 2 16.5 X 900’

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With G&Z’s patented 90 degree steering, Hawkins was able to

maneuver the paver very easily from one pour to the next saving

valuable time. If one pour happened to be intersecting with

another pavement, Hawkins was able to put the machine into

its 90 degree steering mode at the end of the pour often leaving

just a small amount of hand pour to fill-in. On pavers without 90

degree steering, for purposes of maneuvering the machine out

and away from the slab, a much larger section of concrete is often

left to hand pour. To protect the machine frame from undesirable

torsional forces when walking the S850 over uneven ground,

the S850’s cross slope / anti-torsion

control system was used.

The Telescopic End Sections have

given Hawkins an incredible edge.

“We can change the width of one

side of the machine with two guys in

1 ½ to 2 hours. It takes about 3 ½ to

4 hours to make a width change on

both sides. It would normally take us 1

to 2 days to perform this operation,” says

Ron Mockelman the lead mechanic on the

Hawkins team. The Telescopic End Sections

can give the contractor the ability to pave a day

sooner compared to a standard width change

operation.

The smoothness obtained with Hawkin’s new S850 with

Telescopic End Sections was exceptional from the start of the

first pour through completion of the project. Though the project

was only specified with a 2/10’s blanking band specification,

Hawkins was curious to know how smooth they could pave with

these new end sections so they analyzed the profilograph traces

under the 1/10th and zero blanking bands as well. The average

of the results under a 2/10th’s blanking band was in the LOW

single digits as measured in inches per mile, while the 1/10th and

zero band results were 10-15 inches per mile and 18-22 inches

per mile respectively. Both Hawkins and the Airport Authority

were very pleased with the smoothness obtained on this project.

As a side note, Hawkins poured several slabs using a previously

poured companion lane slab to establish grade and alignment

while also using G&Z’s patented cross slope control feature.

This allowed them to pave without setting a single stringline for

these passes. Terry Kirsch reported that the smoothness results

under this scenario were well within the 2/10th’s blanking band

specification.

With thousands of yards through Hawkins’ G&Z S850 paver

already, it is evident the S850 with the New

Telescopic End Sections has met the

standard G&Z sets for itself and has

exceeded the needs of the contractor.

Terry Kirsch said of the partnership,

“The venture between Hawkins and

Guntert & Zimmerman was great.

The quality of the work was always the

highest standard.” The S850 itself was a huge

timesaver since it allowed Hawkins to pave different

slab widths everyday without any down time. In the

past this same production with varying widths was

performed with two pavers owned by Hawkins. Ron Mockelman

and his maintenance crew have had nearly no problems with

the S850. The only regular maintenance has been to grease the

plow and jacking columns. One of the greatest time savers for

the maintenance crew is the ability to wash down the S850 in a

minimal amount of time. The open engineered design allows for

ease of clean up and leaves few small spaces for concrete to stick

and dry.

The word coming out of Eppley Airfield from all those at Hawkins

is, “We could not have met the current schedule with any other

piece of equipment than the S850 with the Telescopic End

Sections.” In fact the concrete pavement produced by the S850

is so superb that Hawkins is eager to finish their work at Eppley

Airfield to move the machine to other projects they have in the

area.

P a t e n t Pending

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The construction industry has been using stringless technology

for elevation and steering control of equipment for a number of

years. To date however, the use of this technology in the concrete

paving market has been limited to the grading operation and is

not typically used for the actual paving where stringline is still

the preferred method of guiding the steering and elevation

controls on these machines. This is due to stringline having

been traditionally more reliable for paving operations than a

stringless system when it comes to meeting the strict smoothness

specifications often found on highway projects. In a business

where smoothness reigns supreme, contractors can’t simply

throw caution to the wind and pave with a system in which the

reliability has not been proven.

Even with this in mind, the stringless benefits are undeniable: less

survey costs, fewer man hours setting stakes and string, and no

more office types tripping over “hard to see” stringline on jobsites.

For a paving contractor, the savings associated with stringless

technology simply doesn’t outweigh the cost of grinding out of

specification pavements. As the technology has progressed, the

paving market has become more and more interested. Is it finally

time to see the broad use of stringless technology in the paving

market? Once again, the constantly innovative Iowa DOT has set

out to be a leader in the application and use of new technology.

On September 2, a national open house for concrete overlays

was held in Worth County, IA. Over 100 state DOT employees

(9 states), county engineers, engineering consultants, contractors,

and suppliers attended the one day event. The agenda for the

day featured concrete overlay projects by both Cedar Valley Corp.

and Flynn Co. Inc., who both use G&Z S850 slipform pavers.

Presentations by James Cable of Cable Concrete Consultation

LLC, Tom Cackler, Director of National Concrete Pavement

Technology Center, Matt Morrison, Paving and Key Accounts

Manager for Leica, Ron Guntert, President & CEO of G&Z, and

Jeff Flynn, President of Flynn Co. Inc., were followed by a bus tour

of both jobs.

Cedar Valley recently completed three Worth County projects.

The 24 mile (38.6 km) long, 4 in (10.16 cm) thick, 22 ft (6.7 m) wide

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Iowa Shows Its StuffAnd Goes Stringless

concrete overlay which was paved with traditional stringline,

was selected through an alternate bidding process over a 3

in (7.62 cm) asphalt overlay with 3 in (7.62 cm) cold-in-place

recycling. Because of concrete’s longer life expectancy and lower

maintenance costs, Worth County officials selected concrete as

the material of choice for their overlays rather than asphalt. For

the quality of work achieved on this project and the hundreds of

concrete paving projects previously done by Cedar Valley using a

G&Z S850, G&Z is very proud to call them its partners.

Flynn’s 10.5 mile (16.9 km) Iowa Department of Transportation

project on Hwy 65 near Mason City, IA was a 32 ft (9.75 m) wide,

5 in (12.7 cm) thick unbonded concrete overlay using a stringless

system. The original 24 ft (7.3 m) pavement was widened 4 ft

(1.2 m) in each lane, and Flynn elected to pour at half width to

facilitate local traffic. Iowa DOT specified the use of stringless

technology on this portion of Hwy 65. Flynn’s G&Z S850 was

equipped with Leica Total Station machine controls. As the name

implies, stringless technology replaces the traditional stringline

with an electronic tracking process that controls the horizontal

and vertical operation of the paver. At times, Flynn paved up to

18 fpm (5.48 mpm) achieving smoothness on zero blanking band

as low as 6 in per mile and averaging in low teens for the project

which earned them full bonus incentive.

With the savings in materials and labor, concrete overlays will

be equal to or lesser than asphalt’s initial costs but will always

perform better over the long run. This could result in more jobs

bid for concrete rather than asphalt. With the elimination of

stringline, the use of stringless technology holds special potential

for increasing the application of concrete overlays. Also seen for

the first time was Ames Engineering’s prototype, a real time on

board smoothness measuring device.

Jeff Flynn and his team should be congratulated for paving

the way to a brighter future with stringless paving technology.

Based on the extremely positive reaction of county officials

and attendees at this event, the future of concrete overlays

and stringless technology looks very promising. Iowa alone is

building over 200 miles of concrete overlays in 2009. The Flynn

Company’s constant attention to detail from the project planning

phase through installation is one of the reasons that they are

considered a quality paving contractor.

G&Z would like to say a special thanks to the Flynn Concrete

Paving Team: Mark Gorton, Project Manager, Gary Hoffmann,

Superintendent, and Tim Duffy, Paving Foreman for helping

bring this new technology to the market.

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Thiess Paves With Complete G&Z Concrete Paving System

The construction of concrete roads can be likened to a ballet, if

the contractor, owner, and designer are in step it can be pulled off

flawlessly. If not, it can be a contentious battle. The true fact is

that it benefits both parties to produce long lasting, smooth, and

durable product. As with constructing any large scale project, it

takes many different pieces to come together for a paving project

to run smoothly both in operation and end product. The mind

set the contractor and authority take when going into the project

can drastically affect the outcome. If the contractor and authority

purpose to focus on quality, plan correctly, and work together the

end result can be an unbelievably successful project. G&Z has

been honored to be a part of such a project in Australia.

In late 2006, Thiess Pty Ltd. started initial investigation into new

concrete paving and mixing equipment for a large design build

highway project in eastern Australia along the Pacific Highway.

Thiess Pty Ltd is a wholly owned division of Leighton Holding

Group one of the largest contractors in the world. Thiess was a

part of a team called The C2HC Alliance, comprising of Thiess

and Parsons Brinckerhoff, who were eventually awarded the

project in the spring of 2007 as the New South Wales Road &

Traffic Authority (RTA’s) alliance partner to upgrade a 32.7 km

(20.3 mi) section of the Pacific Highway on the New South Wales

mid-north coast. Located between the regional centers of Taree

and Port Macquarie, the project involves upgrading the existing

highway between Coopernook and Herons Creek with a focus on

providing a high standard four-lane dual highway. The upgrade

of this section of the Pacific Highway will significantly alleviate

its poor safety record, reducing serious accidents and fatalities

along this stretch of road.

The Thiess / Parsons Brinckerhoff team was selected because it

was recognized as having the right vision, necessary experience,

capabilities, understanding, innovative approach and

commitment to work with the RTA. The RTA and Alliance’s key

objectives related to program, safety, quality, environment, and

community requirements. Key factors in the selection process

included: the Alliance’s high level of teamwork; the reputation

and integrity of the organizations and team members; and its

proven ability to perform.

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What More Could A Contractor Ask For?

This AUD$470 million (US$430 million) project is the longest

stretch of the Pacific Highway to ever be constructed as one

project. The 10.5 km (6.5 mi) section between Coopernook and

Moorland is comprised of 3.5 km (2.17 mi) of new two lane

highway and a 7 km (4.3 mi) duplication of the existing highway,

and a single bridge over Two Mile Creek. The 22.2 km (13.8 mi)

Moorland to Herons Creek section comprises 5.2 km (3.2 mi) of

new two lane highway and 17 km (10.5 mi) duplication of the

existing highway. This section includes 16 new bridges and 52

culverts. The project is a missing link in the Pacific Highway and

joins dual highway sections at each end. There are 3 interchanges

along the length of the project.

The unique approach where the specifying authority was a

part of the team helped to quickly eliminate any impairment

to production or quality during the design stage and through

construction. For example, bridge approaches were redesigned

to accommodate the movement of the paving equipment over the

bridges and to minimize hand paving. The team’s commitment to

quality was also emphasized and evident in the final specification

and contract. Because of the potential monetary incentives in

place for the contractor if they met or exceeded certain measures

of pavement quality, there was a large push for the contractor to

produce a durable, smooth and quiet concrete pavement. These

potential quality incentives were a big consideration in the team’s

selection of concrete materials and equipment. For example,

natural river sand was trucked in from over 200 km (124 mi)

away to ensure good slipform concrete mixes and four different

quarries were used to supply aggregate and sands. Concrete

mix designs were done using Shilstone software to optimize the

aggregate gradations.

During the tender phase of the project, the Thiess Plant

Department undertook a review of the required paving resources

for the project and identified that a complete new paving train

and two new batch plants would be required to complete the

project in the allotted time. Prior to the equipment selection

team’s tour of the United States, a desktop review of the available

options with respect to multilane paver manufacturers around

the world was completed.

After a thorough selection process, the selection team

recommended to the Thiess Pty Ltd management team to

purchase the new paving fleet from Guntert & Zimmerman. The

recommendation was accepted and the new fleet was delivered

to site and commissioned in late 2008. The new fleet consisted of

an S1500 Paver, PS1200 Placer Spreader, and two TC1500 Texture

Cure Machines.

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Some of the benefits identified when deciding on the G&Z paving

machines were:

• 90 degree steering capability – very useful on a tight site

and because the project includes some 27 traffic switches,

the multiple paving spreads including concrete plants are

constantly moving along the project to allow the complex

staging to be completed. This was further complicated by

prolonged rainfall during 2008 and first half of 2009 which

meant over 40% of available days were lost due to wet weather.

• Double telescoping tractor frame – ability to telescope to extend

rather than to add in / bolt in frame sections to extend

• Paving kit section – reduced bolts per joint and machined

connections mean less time in kit changes

• Spreader plow – very effective in moving concrete and easier to

change widths

• Fine width kit adjustment – ability to fine tune width of kit

• Hydraulic side forms – split forms make it easier and faster to

back over end of runs

According to Todd Myers, who headed the Thiess equipment

selection team, “The G&Z machines were delivered on time

and the site commissioning process went without incident. The

machines were ready to go to work without any modifications.

G&Z’s service team provides great support, and they really know

the machines.” Myers went on to add that “The back up service

provided by G&Z is second to none. Any issues raised are acted

upon immediately. They are able to provide not only operational

support for the machine, but also advice on mix designs and

the benefits of on-ground experience. The performance of

the machine to date has been excellent with the quality of the

pavement produced to date exceeding expectations. While the

G&Z S1500 machine may not be the cheapest on the market, we

believe that it is the best value for the money. It’s a big capital

investment, but one that has provided good returns in the quality

of the pavement and reliability of the machine.”

Thiess also commissioned G&Z to design a portable and modular

batch plant based on their existing MCP12 design to suit

conditions in Australia. The Thiess / G&Z team have successfully

built and commissioned two of these plants in Australia. These

plants are now setting a new benchmark in concrete production

and quality in this country. G&Z looks forward to bringing

further information regarding the implementation and operation

of Thiess’ batching process in a future issue of G&Z Construction

Profiles.

Thiess is now approximately 50% complete with the Portland

Cement Pavement (PCP) installation and targeted to complete

the project by April 2010. Monthly production has peaked at

nearly 30,000m3 (39,270 cy) during August 2009.

With regards to the smoothness results achieved to date, in

Australia they go by a NAASRA smoothness reading which is

total counts per km as measured by an laser profiler. They take

the mean of all the readings of the lots + standard deviation of all

the lot readings. Less than 35 earns 100% of full bonus. To date

Thiess is running at 30.6 which is considered by many as the best

in Australian concrete paving industry.

Their first day of paving was a 36. A 42 earns no bonus but

no corrective work is required. A 49 requires grinding into

specification but you cannot grind into smoothness bonus. The

best Thiess had previously done was a 33 but most other projects

in the past had been in the low 40s.

The subject of noise is closely related to pavement smoothness as

well as texture. The PCP pavement placed by Thiess is one of the

quietest of all Australian PCP pavements placed in the past. Of

the two sections measured one was 80.4 dBa and other was 82.5

dBa. Noise measured by a drive by test where a microphone is

placed 7.5 m (24 ft) from the CL of the vehicle traveling at a speed

of 100km/hr (60 mph).

13

The pavement surface was dragged with a Hessian fabric followed

by transverse tining. Tine depth is 1 mm (.03 in) and width 3 mm

(.11 in). Tine pattern is random with widest 19 mm (.75 in) and

average spacing 12 mm (.47 in) and the pattern repeats every 250

mm (9.8 in).

A trial of longitudinal diamond grinding to evaluate reduced

noise was also carried out with results surprisingly high. These

high results were put down to a low number (200) of blades per

4 ft. Drum vs. recommend 220 to 240 per drum to reduce fin size

left. Large fins have been found to contribute to noise.

An exposed aggregate trial completed by another contractor

for the RTA some 10 years ago showed very similar noise levels

(81dBA) as achieved by Thiess with the transverse tining on

this project. The combination of consistent concrete from the

new G&Z batch plants and the quality of the tining from the

new TC1500 machines is credited with producing the low noise

values.

Job FactsPavements Design PCC150mm lean Mix Subbase (5Mpa)260mm Base (35mpa)Base concrete is Unreinforced Plain Concrete with sawn skewed transverse joints at 4.2m spacing. Single sawn blade longitudinal joint.

Subbase paved at 10.1m wide. Base paved at 8.0m wide. The placer spreader was used for all base to pre-spread. Shoulder paved in a subsequent operation with shoulder paver at 2.0m wide or 3.0m wide if a gutter is required.

Pavement Design Low Noise220mm thick Lean Mix Subbase (5Mpa)175mm thick Dense Grade Asphalt30mm thick Open Grade Asphalt

Total project length is 32.7km of dual carriageway.Pavement typesExisting Highway reuse 4.5kmPlain Concrete Pavement 46.5kmLow Noise 10.5kmStructures 1.8km

Concrete QuantitiesTotal Subbase 122,000m3Total Base 152,000m3Structural Concrete 46,000m3 (Bridges box Culverts Etc)

14

The conveyor is conveniently controlled from the loader controls inside the cab of the loader. The speed of the belt is controlled by the engine RPM and the flow of oil through the control values. The folding and travel features are controlled from auxiliary controls on the conveyor base at ground level.

G&Z TEAMS UP WITH

TO BRING YOU THE PORTABLE MODULAR CONVEYOR

Manufactured under one or more of the following U.S. or Foreign Patents: 4,433,936; 4,483,584; 0051885; 6,390,727; 6,390,726; 6,176,643B1; 5,135.333 and 117323 and Patents Pending. Some items shown may be optional. G&Z reserves the right to make improvements in design, material, and/or changes in specifications at any time without notice and without incurring any obligation related to such changes.

Brochure No. 400P101

Guntert & Zimmerman Const. Div., Inc.222 E. Fourth St. Ripon, CA 95366 U.S.A.Phone 209-599-0066 Fax 209-599-2021Toll Free 800-733-2912 Email gz@guntert.com Web www.guntert.com

Construction Profiles is published by Guntert & Zimmerman to inform readers of applied construction technology utilizing Guntert & Zimmerman equipment. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without the consent of Guntert & Zimmerman. Printed in U.S.A.

For more information, please contact John Eisenhour at (405) 371-5180 or Ron Meskis at (209) 568-7406.