VÖGELE MOBILE POWER FEEDER increasing FOOTPRINTS in INDIA

India has the second-largest road network in the world, spanning a total of 6.39 million km as per Economic Survey 2021. This road network transports 64.5% of all goods in the country and 90% of India's total passenger traffic uses road network to commute.

The National Infrastructure Pipeline, of which Bharatmala Pariyojna is a part, has also accelerated the construction of several Greenfield projects including the expressways and mega highways. With such humongous ongoing and targeted construction of road infra in the country, it becomes more pertinent for the use of state-of-the-art -innovative technologies for cost optimisation and quality results.

VÖGELE mobile power feeder offers cutting-edge technology that sets standards in modern road construction both in terms of quality and economic efficiency. This mobile feeder not only continues to gain popularity for use in large highway projects but has also exponentially contributed to deliver excellent paving results.

Since 2006, the VÖGELE mobile power feeders are in use in various national highway projects in the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

The 1,350 km Delhi-Mumbai Expressway (DME) project (NH-148N /NE-4) is an under construction 8-lane access-controlled road with a route connecting DND in Delhi with JNPT in Mumbai. It has been designed with a speed limit of 120 km/hr and provision to expand to 12 lanes in the future.

This new Greenfield expressway was approved for construction under the Bharatmala Pariyojana programme in 2017. This being a mega Greenfield project is one of the ideal project sites for use of mobile feeder although the following prerequisite was checked/ensured before the machine was physically moved to job site.

• Total quantity of asphalt to be paved
• Current paving methodology for 8-lane carriageways of 18.75 m width
• Batch (hot mix) plant capacity
• Availability of the paving front or length
• Per day paving target (qty & length)
• Average lead of the paving site from plant location
• Availability and type of trucks used in asphalt mix transport

It was more interesting to have this jobsite because the opportunity was to use mobile feeder on one unit of Vogele asphalt paver S1800-3 which is working in echelon form with another paver and also to use feeder on both the machines.

The paving process was carried out with AB 600-3 TV screeds paving 18.75 m width of SMA in single pass. An MT 3000-2 power feeder was used for continuous and jerk-free feeding.

Post completion of approx. 9.14 km of paving length and 10,000 ton of material paved, the construction company site team from quality check & mechanical reported the following:

• Continuous and more homogenous supply of mix - Uninterrupted paving and avoid feeding of segregated material to the paver hopper
• Jerk-free paving operation because of contactless paving
• Eliminating the chances of having cold and hot spots in the paving mat, thus eliminating compaction variance
• Increase in onboard material capacity
• Higher productivity
• Reduction in number of paving stops

The outcome was excellent ride quality, surface finish and less manpower requirement during paving, thereby reducing the chances of error due to human intervention in the paving process.

There is no direct contact between tippers/lorries and the pavers which eliminate the jerk transfer from tippers to the pavers diminish the chances of bump formation on the mat. Non-contact and continuous paving makes the pavement completely undulation-free. Homogeneous material being supplied by the conical augers ensures uniform temperature mix being supplied to the paver which eliminates chances of thermal segregation throughout the mat. Two infrared heaters present on the conveyor ensure no materials stick to the conveyor belt which improves the life of the conveyor.

Power feeders are perfectly suited for hot-to-hot paving in which two pavers work side-by-side paving large width in single pass with elimination of longitudinal joint.

Paving multiple lanes side-by-side (with adjacent pavers slightly offset) can remove the longitudinal joint between pavers because both mats are hot when initially compacted. Rollers behind the echelon pavers can pass directly over the longitudinal joint while both sides are hot, which results in better compaction.

As per user feedback, “Undulation in paved layer by power feeder has been reduced significantly. Surface quality improvement is the utmost advantage of power feeder.”

Unique features of VÖGELE MT 3000-2 offset power feeder

• Uninterrupted paving due to a total storage capacity of 45t with a maximum conveying capacity of 1,200 tph
• Non-contacting material transfer makes for enhanced pavement quality
• Homogenised mix in the receiving hopper of the material feeder due to conical augers
• Wide range of applications due to the pivoting and inclining conveyor
• Reliable material transfer based on automatic distance control and anti-collision protection
• Powered with Deutz engine with 142 kW at 2,000 rpm supplemented with ECO mode 139 kW at 1,800 rpm
• Conveyor pivoting angle range of ±55 degrees with two infrared heating panel
• Optimum visibility and safety due to the convenient and practical ErgoPlus operating concept
• ErgoPlus operating console offering upgraded ergonomics, safety and visibility

New generation of material feeders from VÖGELE

They guarantee constant, smooth transfer of material and now offer paving teams numerous practical new features: the MT 3000-3 Standard and MT 3000-3 Offset power feeders from world market leader VÖGELE integrate the latest Dash-3 machine concept and an optimised conveying and maintenance system.

ErgoPlus 3, Autosetplus and PaveDock Assistant are some of the key features which enhance the ergonomics and ease of operation of the VÖGELE power feeder.

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