Last 30 January 2018 our partner TRBA held a technical visit in Peruwelz (Belgium) to introduce their new machine, the Wirtgen SP1500. For the occasion a 40 cm thick concrete test section was built in preparation of the construction project of the Luxembourg airport extension.

The day started with a presentation by Filip Covemaeker of TRBA highlighting the advantages of sustainable concrete pavements, explaining the essential factors for a high quality achievement and showing the company’s construction capacities, in particular their range of slipform paving machines.  Finally, he presented the project of the Luxembourg airport extension.  The owner is the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastruture of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and TRBA is part of a contractors association with CDCL and Felix Giorgetti.  The design is by TR-Engineering in collaboration with ARCADIS and AB-Roads.

The first phase of this jobsite includes 60 000m² of a 40 cm thick double layered jointed plain concrete pavement, equipped with dowels and tie-bars.

Special attention was given to the newly procured machine for this project: the Wirtgen SP1500, 15.5 meters large and weighing 70 tons. There are only 7 of these machines in Europe including one in Belgium. Technicians from Wirtgen helped TRBA setting up the machine.

The presentation was followed by the site visit where the participants attended the construction of the test section of a jointed plain concrete pavement.  This trial aimed at testing the compatibility of the concrete mixes with the new machine, the construction of the pavement in different slopes, the installation of the different types of joints and the inclusion of embedded items such as manholes and gutters.

Characteristics of the pavement:

• Bottom layer: 33 cm
• Top layer: 7 cm
• Insertion of dowels diam. 25 mm, length 600mm, spaced 250mm, by the slipform paver in transverse contraction joints
• Mechanical insertion of dowels in longitudinal construction joint
• Insertion of tie-bars, diam. 18 mm, length 800mm, spaced 1000mm, by the slipform paver in longitudinal bending joints
• Use of a bituminous interlayer or a geotextile between hydraulically bound base layer and concrete pavement

Characteristics of the concrete mix:

• C35/45
• Limestone aggregates, Dmax 32 mm
• Maximum w/c: 0,45
• Cement type: CEM I 42,5 N
• Characteristic tensile splitting strength on cores f_ctk,core ≥ 4 MPa
• Average air content 5%

Members and partners of EUPAVE which are involved in the project:

TRBA: construction
AB-Roads: design
WIRTGEN: slipform paver
HeidelbergCement Group : cement

The Federation of the Belgian Cement Industry, FEBELCEM, and the European Concrete Paving Association, EUPAVE organised on 7 September 2017 a joint workshop on “Slipform pavers”.

“For more than 50 years, slipform pavers have been used for the construction of concrete roads, safety barriers, kerbs and gutters.  They turn the fresh concrete into a finished high-quality product, and are fast and accurate.  Thanks to continuous development and new equipment, they have become an indispensable tool for a concrete pavement contractor.”

EUPAVE counts among its members the 4 main slipform pavers manufacturers: Gomaco, Guntert & Zimmerman, Wirtgen, Power Curbers. Three of them delegated speakers for this workshop which was attended by around 60 participants.

Around 60 participants attend the event

Luc Rens, Managing-Director of EUPAVE, opened the workshop and introduced EUPAVE and the speakers to the participants. Following this, Mr. Rolf C. Guntert, Vice-President of Guntert & Zimmerman, explained how to achieve high quality concrete pavements for the motoring public.

Rolf C. Guntert, Vice-President of Guntert & Zimmerman

Mr. Rory Keogh, Managing-Director of GOMACO International Limited in the UK presented the concrete slipform paving, the way it works, its potential problems and a range of solutions.

Rory Keogh, Managing-Director of GOMACO

Mr. Patrick Zanen, Head of Sales Slipform Paving and Product Manager at Wirtgen, introduced the offset applications.

Afterwards, at the outdoor exhibition, the audience visited the stands of De Bruycker and Wirtgen where slipform pavers from Gomaco and Wirtgen were presented.

Patrick Zanen, Head of Sales Slipform Paving and Product Manager at Wirtgen

The workshop and visit ended with a walking lunch organised by MATEXPO.

We wish to thank one more time our speakers for their great contribution and the MATEXPO team for the opportunity.

The Federation of the Belgian Cement Industry, FEBELCEM, and the European Concrete Paving Association, EUPAVE, invite you to their workshop on Slipform Pavers.The workshop will be held the 7 September 2017 from 10.00 to 12.00 at MATEXPO 2017.  Address: Meetingcenter room MC3, Kortrijk Xpo, Doorniksesteenweg 216, 8500 Kortrijk Belgium

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• Registration

For registration, follow this link or go on www.matexpo.com > “register here” and enter your invitation code PAVE17.

• Transportation

A shuttle bus will be provided from Brussels to the event site.
Departure at 8.15 from the parking of Best Western hotel situated at the rest area along motorway E40 towards Ghent (Groot-Bijgaarden).
Return from Kortrijk at 16.00.

To book a seat on the bus, please email BOTH Mrs. Lou Pedro, l.pedro(at)febelcem.be, and Ms. Elise Carabedian, e.carabedian(at)eupave.eu before 30 August 2017.

• Agenda available in English, Dutch and French

Find here the invitation and agenda in English, Dutch and French.