A ‘World Record’ was established with Wirtgen SP 1600 Slipform Paver which is the world’s largest Concrete Paver with paving width of 18.75 m in single pass.
Ramesh Palagiri Managing Director & CEO, Wirtgen India What are the emerging technological innovations offered by your company in your range of machines? The Wirtgen Group is the world market leader in concrete
– Ramesh Palagiri
Managing Director & CEO, Wirtgen India
What are the emerging technological innovations offered by your company in your range of machines?
The Wirtgen Group is the world market leader in concrete paving machines. Wirtgen offers two range of Concrete Pavers – Offset and Inset Pavers. With offset slipform pavers, the concrete is transported into the offset mold via a loading conveyor or a conveyor auger. The offset pavers SP 15 and SP 25 are used to build safety barriers, water gutters, kerbs or narrow paths in India.
With inset slipform pavers, the concrete is placed directly in front of the machine and distributed by a spreading auger or spreading plough. Concrete pavements are used in an exceedingly wide range of applications such as in the construction of motorways, trunk roads, airport runways, container storage areas or railway tracks. These structures are exposed to extremely high loads by heavy goods and high traffic volumes. Concrete pavements are the ideal choice when it comes to withstanding these loads on a long term basis.
In addition, traffic volumes keep increasing continuously on a global scale, making ever higher demands on concrete roads. Wirtgen inset slipform pavers offer working widths ranging from 1.0 m to 16.0 m and are perfect candidates for the economically efficient production of concrete pavements. The range of product offered for Indian market are SP 62, SP 64, SP 94, SP 124, SP 124 L, SP 164.
Wirtgen Texture Curing Machines TCM 180 gives the concrete pavement desired surface texture, applying a dispersion which prevents the surface and edges from drying too quickly. The specified surface texture is achieved with a brush. Alternatively, a burlap or synthetic turf can be drawn across the concrete pavement in a longitudinal direction. Automatic crown adjustment and a film unwinder round off the features of the machine.
Patel Infrastructure Ltd, an established construction, development and maintenance service company created a history for a World Record by completing 1.28 km of and 8-Lane (2.56 km stretch of 4 lanes) Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway Project in just 24 Hrs. The record was established with Wirtgen SP 1600 Slipform Paver which is the world’s largest Concrete Paver with paving width of 18.75 m in single pass.
The project is unique as World record has been achieved in four categories and it is recognized by both India Book of Records and Golden Book of World Records.
- Highest Quality Pavement Quality Concrete in 24 hours
- Largest Quantum of Concrete produced by Ready Mix Concrete Plant in 24 hours
- Laying of Pavement Quality Concrete continuously in 24 hours
- Area of Rigid Pavement Quality Concrete laid in an Expressway in sq. mtrs. in 24 hours.
The job started at 8 am on February 1, 2021 and was completed by 8 am the next morning totaling 2.58 km each in four lanes, with a width of 18.75 meters, covering an area of 48,711 square meters. The record is part of the greenfield Delhi-Vadodara-Mumbai, 8-lane expressway project developed by NHAI and is being carried out by the world’s largest fully automatic ultra-modern concrete paver machine- SP 1600 Slipform Paver by Wirtgen. For covering the desired width, Wirtgen SP 1600 Slipform Paver Screed Width were increased to 18.75 meters from 16 meter.
With the industry witnessing introduction of new technologies and products, it is important for the operation and maintenance personnel to be well aware of the new development. What are the training imperatives undertaken by you for the operators of your equipment?
During the pandemic, the one area on which investments continued was on R & D and that’s what helps the Wirtgen Group to be the innovation leader and to keep introducing disruptive technologies.
With more sophisticated machines coming into the market, skill upgradation is very key and all manufacturers including Wirtgen Group have been working very closely with our customers in training their operators, imparting application knowledge to them so that we get better roads. We are also running operator schools at our premises which help youth to get employment and for our customers to get trained manpower to operate and maintain their machines.
What are the after-sales support initiatives adopted by you in sustaining the customer satisfaction levels?
We with our direct after-sales approach are focused to give our customers the best-in-class experience in terms of machine availability & productivity. This has been backed by our dedicated team of engineers posted all India and spare part availability at strategic locations to reduce the machine down time. We also offer complete fleet management services on per ton basis, annual maintenance contract, customized service contract based on customer requirement. We provide worldwide service and on-site application support. Therefore, optimal customer care & performance and availability of spares are always guaranteed.
Hits: 130
