en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Vögele MINI 500 paver demonstrated its ability to work continuously and efficiently in confined spaces during a road shoulder renovation and widening project on a highway in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. The project required resurfacing and widening approximately 2.3 kilometers of shoulder along one side of the T9 national road, as the area was contaminated with mercury.

The town of Raron, located in the southern Swiss canton of Valais, is connected to the A9 motorway by the T9 cantonal road, which serves as a vital link for surrounding towns and villages. The contractor awarded the project was Pius Schmid AG, a construction company from the town of Visp, which chose to use the smallest model in the Vögele product range, the MINI 500 paver, to complete the task.

Michael Schmid, a member of the executive board of Pius Schmid AG, stated that the company frequently undertakes municipal road construction projects. In situations with limited space and narrow paving widths, the paving process with the MINI 500 is significantly faster than traditional manual paving, and the road surface quality is superior.

The MINI 500 paver has a basic paving width of 0.9 meters, with a working width adjustable between 0.25 meters and 1.8 meters, allowing it to adapt to roadside areas ranging from 0.9 meters to 1.3 meters or 0.9 meters to 1.35 meters. The machine features a crawler design equipped with rubber track pads, providing ideal traction on loose ground and maneuverability in tight spaces.

In addition to the MINI 500, the construction crew also used another paver, the SUPER 800i, for paving the base and surface layers of the shoulder. In this project, the MINI 500, paired with an AB 135 hydraulic telescopic screed, was able to pave the entire section continuously without interruption. Previously, tasks involving such frequent width variations had to be completed through time-consuming and labor-intensive manual paving.

The MINI 500 has a hopper capacity of 1.5 tons, and its spacious, funnel-shaped opening simplifies loading by the feeder. The entire machine weighs only 1.6 tons, making it easy to transport and cost-effective for job site changes. If necessary, a loader can be used to lift the machine to a working area at a certain height. Schmid mentioned that the machine is easy to move between sites, reducing a lot of coordination work.

To ensure that the paved shoulder meets the required 2% cross slope for drainage, the construction crew used an automatic longitudinal and transverse slope control system specifically designed for the MINI 500. This system achieves height control of the screed by comparing target values with actual values and making corrections. Schmid concluded that with the MINI 500, they could complete this task easily and efficiently, delivering precise, high-quality paving results.