The perfect fit
Roads in south-eastern France and those on the west coast of Spain share a common challenge often faced by road construction crews around Europe - extremely tight working conditions.
The AP655D track-type paver with model AS4251C screed is, according to Caterpillar, a versatile machine solution that handles the paving challenges of some of the most narrow jobsite situations. The 19,165kg AP655D (18-19 ton major class size for tracked pavers) is suitable for a wide range of applications, with the help of two track solutions - the Mobil-trac (MTS rubber track) and steel track undercarriages. Each track option is fully bogied with an automatic hydraulic track-tensioning system to ensure greater productivity and superior paving quality.
The paver features: standard 2.55m paving width (up to 5m with hydraulic extensions or 8m with mechanical extensions), short turning radius, and manoeuvrability, along with technologies that produce consistent, high-quality mats.
In the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France, a new Cat AP655D MTS was recently paving its way along a narrow thoroughfare, as crews worked carefully along a winding mountain road. French contractor Braja were demonstrating an AP655D along a 7.1km stretch of roadway between Villepredrix and Léoux, where the elevation changed from 450m to 750m. In this application, it took crews about 45min to lay 250 tons of a bituminous concrete mixture. The next day, the paver was put to work along a similar path, this time paving 8km of roadway in a machine demo from Verclause to Lemps along an altitude rise of some 200+m, in a similar timeframe.
Despite the inherent jobsite challenges of any mountainous terrain, Braja crews say the AP655D handled the distances about three times more quickly than steel chain paver finishers they’ve used in the past. They especially appreciated the paver’s excellent manoeuvrability along the roadway’s hairpin curves. Crews also commented that the AP655D’s Mobil-trac undercarriage provided more stability across uneven surfaces.
The sharp mountainous turns and tight turning radius required for this project made it impossible to transfer the paver to the jobsite on a lorry. The AP655D, however, was able to ascend the mountain road on its own thanks to its high travel speeds and Mobil-trac system.
The AP655D is also suitable for motorways, highways, industrial sites, parking lots, urban and rural roads, city streets, residential streets and other production-sized paving job.
The AP655D track-type paver with model AS4251C screed is, according to Caterpillar, a versatile machine solution that handles the paving challenges of some of the most narrow jobsite situations. The 19,165kg AP655D (18-19 ton major class size for tracked pavers) is suitable for a wide range of applications, with the help of two track solutions - the Mobil-trac (MTS rubber track) and steel track undercarriages. Each track option is fully bogied with an automatic hydraulic track-tensioning system to ensure greater productivity and superior paving quality.
The paver features: standard 2.55m paving width (up to 5m with hydraulic extensions or 8m with mechanical extensions), short turning radius, and manoeuvrability, along with technologies that produce consistent, high-quality mats.
In the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France, a new Cat AP655D MTS was recently paving its way along a narrow thoroughfare, as crews worked carefully along a winding mountain road. French contractor Braja were demonstrating an AP655D along a 7.1km stretch of roadway between Villepredrix and Léoux, where the elevation changed from 450m to 750m. In this application, it took crews about 45min to lay 250 tons of a bituminous concrete mixture. The next day, the paver was put to work along a similar path, this time paving 8km of roadway in a machine demo from Verclause to Lemps along an altitude rise of some 200+m, in a similar timeframe.
Despite the inherent jobsite challenges of any mountainous terrain, Braja crews say the AP655D handled the distances about three times more quickly than steel chain paver finishers they’ve used in the past. They especially appreciated the paver’s excellent manoeuvrability along the roadway’s hairpin curves. Crews also commented that the AP655D’s Mobil-trac undercarriage provided more stability across uneven surfaces.
The sharp mountainous turns and tight turning radius required for this project made it impossible to transfer the paver to the jobsite on a lorry. The AP655D, however, was able to ascend the mountain road on its own thanks to its high travel speeds and Mobil-trac system.
The AP655D is also suitable for motorways, highways, industrial sites, parking lots, urban and rural roads, city streets, residential streets and other production-sized paving job.
