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customers in this relatively small and difficult market coming back to us. This is why most major projects and road contractors here use our machinery.”
Another popular asphalt paver in the Middle East is Volvo’s ABG Paver P6820D and a look at its key feature tell us why. It is powered by a 179hp Volvo engine with high torque at low RPMs, increasing productivity at lower fuel cost. The paver also has thick track pads for longer wear resistance which increases the replacement service interval, thereby reducing operating cost.
A Hydraulic Track Tensioning system along with two large properly-spaced composite track rollers keep the track from touching the frame, extending track chain life and smoothening operation. The front apron is hydraulically operated and when raising it along with the hopper wings, all material is funnelled to the conveyor, stopping entry of cold material.
The Screed Assist system prevents the screed from sinking into the material due to its weight when paving with material having low load bearing capacity. The screed load device prevents start-of-paving bumps by ensuring consistent mat quality through the entire length of the job. Also, a screed tensioning device allows a consistent angle of attack across the full width of the screed for smoother paving. Finally, Volvo’s Care Track Monitoring System remotely tracks the machine to reduce fuel consumption, optimise machine and operator performance and proactively manage maintenance to maximise uptime.
The latest success for the P6820D paver is a delivery to Al Geemi & Partners Contracting Company by AlFuttaim Auto and Machinery (FAMCO), Volvo CE’s exclusive UAE distributor. AlGeemi is a 40-plus-yearold contracting giant in Abu Dhabi, classified under the UAE government’s highest category: ‘Special Category: Roads, Bridges and Buildings’.
Ahmad Jamal Anis El Balaa, GM, AlGeemi, says the company has a prominent role in the construction of some of Abu Dhabi’s fundamental infrastructure and iconic buildings, and is among a few companies capable of undertaking projects with $1bn in value.
Speaking about what led to the successful sale, Samer Juneidi, divisional manager-CE, FAMCO, says: “Volvo CE is known for their Swedish quality and safety standards. The new machines will maximixe AlGeemi’s productivity while minimising their total cost of ownership. This delivery further cements our 35-plus years’ relationship with AlGeemi during which they purchased wheeled loaders and wheeled excavators from us and we gained their trust in our machinery and in our aftersales solutions. And now, based on that trust in the FAMCO partnership and the Volvo brand, they have gone for Volvo pavers as well.”
Eyad Turki, national sales manager-CE, FAMCO, adds that while all Volvo machines increase productivity, durability and reliability, and lower total cost of ownership, a clincher for the AlGeemi order was the strong aftermarket support FAMCO has provided before for its 35-machine Volvo fleet, comprising wheeled loaders and wheeled excavators The recently-bought Volvo paver will help serve the company’s projects and customers’ needs across the UAE.
Fadi Saliba, finance manager, AlGeemi, adds: “We chose FAMCO because we’ve been working with them for a long time. The support they’ve offered, with excellent sales and aftersales services, and their network across the UAE, ensures the maximum return on investment for any business.”
Hamm has a range of rollers in the market, with over 100 available in various sizes, capacities, types and designs and for various purposes, with the volumes coming from the 10t capacity range.
“The advantage of oscillation is that it does not pass on the vibrations of the drum to the surrounding buildings and structures like vibratory rollers do. When you need to work in a residential area, the vibration from a typical vibratory roller can break windowpanes of surrounding buildings or harm the structures. Oscillation rollers do not have this disadvantage”
WORKING FLAT OUT
WITH THE MIDDLE EAST A HOTBED FOR ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE, ROLLERS AND COMPACTORS CONTINUE TO BE AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT MACHINES IN THE REGION. CMME SPEAKS TO THE MAJOR MANUFACTURERS TO FIND OUT THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SECTOR
The Middle East is a region that has come to be known for the quality of its roads and highway infrastructure. In a place where the automobile is so important for personal mobility, its is no surprise that the surfaces that those automobiles move on are made to the top standards.
Of course, behind the smooth roads of the region there lies an entire industry of machines, machinery users and manufacturers. And when we speak of smoothness, no other machine assumes greater importance than the road roller or compactor. Furthermore, due to the ever-ongoing road building activity in the region, this is a region the major manufacturers of road making equipment give due importance to, with the consequence that all the global names in the segment are present here in full force with their machines.
When it comes to rollers, the major players in the region are the Wirtgen Group’s Hamm, Ammann, Dynapac and Bomag – all road equipment specialists – and the other major equipment brands such as Volvo CE and JCB.
Hamm and the rest of the Wirtgen Group is represented in the UAE by regional machinery powerhouse Genavco and Saif Khan, national sales manager, explains the various types of rollers his company and its principal offer.
“Among the types of rollers available, the single drum roller is primarily used for soil compaction; the double drum roller and the pneumatic tyre rollers are used for asphalt. Water sprinkler systems are also used with the asphalt rollers, so that the asphalt does not stick to the drums or tyres. After a paver spreads the asphalt, the initial compaction is done by the double drum roller, which compacts down the asphalt into place. Then the tyre roller comes in to do the final surface closing, or to add the finishing touch and finesse the surface of the asphalt road and make it smooth. Before either of these types of rollers come in, however, the soil compactor has already worked on the road being built, smoothening and flattening several layers of soil and other material that go below the final paved asphalt top,” he says.
“Hamm has perhaps the biggest range of rollers in the market, with over 100 available in various sizes, capacities, types and designs and for various purposes. What Hamm brings here to the Middle East is of course the models best suited to this region and the kind of roadworks that we have here. Typically, in this part of the world, the soil compactor is an early requirement for road construction, primarily the 10t-class units, while we’ve also sold the 20t class in some applications. Heavyweight models are preferred when compacting thicker soil, but the traditional volume end of the market here is for soil compactors of around the 10t capacity range.”
He adds that for asphalt work, most contractors again prefer the 10t-class double
drum rollers, while for thinner layers and internal or smaller roads a 7.5t-class model is also popular. For smaller jobs, such as maintenance or for road shoulders, the 1.52.5t class is most favoured.
“The pneumatic rollers are usually eight-wheel rollers, whether for us or the competition. The load per wheel requirement there varies from 2.5-3t, so the machines are ballasted accordingly. For us, the standard pneumatic roller is the 16t model, but we see users increasing its weight while ballasting
Volvo is a major player in the compactor market with a complete model range. It’s new 135hp PT220 pneumatic roller has a high-speed travel mode and several ballast options. it. There are slots available on the machine to load iron bars or bottom plates to do so.”
Khan adds that the most recent development in Hamm rollers is the oscillation rollers. both double and single drum. “The advantage of oscillation is that it does not pass on the vibrations of the drum to the surrounding buildings and structures like vibratory rollers do. When you need to work in a residential area, the vibration from a typical vibratory roller can break windowpanes of surrounding buildings or harm the structures. Oscillation
BUILT FOR THE REGION
VOLVO LAUNCHES PT220 PNEUMATIC TYRE ROLLER IN MIDDLE EAST
Volvo CE has introduced a new pneumatic tyre roller in the Middle East and Africa market, which is more powerful and fuel efficient as well as quieter in operation.
Volvo CE announced that the new PT220 roller features a Volvo D5 Tier-3 compliant turbo-charged diesel engine and incorporates safety features such as Roll Over Protective Structure (ROPS) sunshade, reversing alarm and automatic engine shutdown.
The announcement added that the PT220 compacts using the forces of mass and manipulation and can be adapted to a variety of applications by adding or removing ballast or by adjusting tyre inflation pressure. The positioning of the tyres, four each on front and rear, helps to ensure uniform surface coverage while rolling.
Volvo added that the tyres’ kneading action against the material surface provides excellent compaction and an isostatic suspension for the front tyres helps to keep the roller stable on irregular surfaces as well as maintain uniform tyre contract pressure.
Other highlights of the PT220 include dual seats with a sliding console to give the operator the most convenient work position and the best view of the work area. In addition to equal forward and reverse speeds, the hydrostatic drive also features a high-speed travel mode that allows operators to get to the worksite quickly. For increased compaction versatility, the maximum weight of the machine can be increased using a number of ballast options, including water.
The PT220 is powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder Tier 3/Stage IIIA engine with an output of 135hp. Volvo says it is fuel efficient and exceeds the requirements of exhaust emission legislation across the machine’s intended market. rollers do not have this disadvantage. Also, for certain road making processes, such as when laying roads on a flyover or bridge, there is no other way than to use oscillatory rollers as the vibratory ones will damage the concrete structure. Oscillatory rollers also provide much quicker compaction than vibratory ones.”
The main difference int he way the two work is that in the vibratory roller the drum is moving vertically up and down fast, acting as a hammer to beat the asphalt or soil in place, while in the oscillatory it is moving horizontally, mashing the material to be compacted by transferring the forces tangentially.
“Customers we’ve sold oscillatory machines to are all extremely happy with them. Of course, they are more expensive than vibratory models, but the results are commensurate with the expense. Of course, it does not matter much on a greenfield highway project whether the roller is vibratory or oscillatory, so there vibratory ones are preferred. Oscialltory rollers are actually very popular in places such as Europe, where the temperature window in which the paved asphalt remains hot enough to compact and set is much smaller than here because of the climatic conditions and so oscillatory models are preferred due to their quick action and fewer passes required to do the job.”
Genavco’s latest offering is Hamm’s new HP240 pneumatic roller, which comes with a hydrostatic drive rather than the conventional geared drive. “It is a totally new design with great visibility and ease of operation for the operator and quicker results.We have the first lot here and had planned a customer open day to introduce it, but that is now not possible due to the Covid-19 situation. So, we are promoting it through other means, such as taking the machine to customers’ locations.”
“On the whole, the most popular roller models for us across our range include the HD110 double drum roller, another 10t class roller. The HD75 is another - a 7.5t double drum model. And we also have the small rollers such as our HD8VB, HD12VB, HD10VB, and others, with the numbers here indicative of the drum width. We are the only company that supplies a 100% made in Germany range to our customers here, while most competitors bring in at least some of their rollers from developing countries. Our customers are very happy with the performance and reliability of our machines,” Khan explains.
Meanwhile, at JCB, the compaction side of the business is no less important for a company known for its heavy earthmoving machines and compact equipment. Describing the JCB compactor line-up, Oliver Boenisch, general manager, Compaction Global Growth, JCB Sales, says the brand’s offerings are in four
patch works, smaller road sections, urban are also getting used on soil compaction jobs,
improves customers’ machine management by giving cost, productivity, safety and maintenance advantages. The 116D features a high centrifugal force of 256kN developed by its unique single piece vibrator shaft. The drum shell thickness is 28mm plus two stiffener rings of 10mm on the edges, which increases the vibrating mass significantly and makes the drum robust and durable to withstanding tough applications such as rock compaction. “These features together ensure the 116D does the job 25-65% faster than other machine “The 116D is the ideal machine to in this segment. This is proven in numerous field tests and we are happy to repeat them. cover a wide range of jobs, from very large- The cost saving potential for users is just tremendous. The high gradeability of >55% scale and heavy-duty applications down to with vibration is also an important feature when it comes to jobs in mountains or landfill sites.” medium-sized infrastructure projects” Moving on to the engine of the 116D, Boenisch states that it is driven by JCB’s proven Dieselmax engine, which is a highvariants in the soil compactors segment with lot of effort to make this machine the best therefore less fuel consumption. Being TIier operating weights from 7.6t to 18.3t and five solution right from the start.” 3 certified with low fuel consumption the variants in the tandem roller segment, with Detailing some of the key features of the 116D is also an environmental-friendly unit. operating weights from 1.7t to 8.6t. 116D, he adds: “This is a machine that rolls “And when I saw it drinks less that doesn’t
Describing their uses Boenisch, says: “Soil The 116D is JCB’s flagship roller in the harder, drinks less, is easy to service and also only mean less fuel consumption, it also compactors are typically used in heavy rolling Middle East with looks good and feels good for owners and means less customer cash consumption applications for urban projects like roads and a high centrigugal force of 256kN operators. Moreover, it’s easy to find though through intelligent design features such car parks over typical small, medium and large- and a drum shell JCB’s Livelink telematics system.” as free of maintenance centre joints or scale road construction as well as mining, thickness of 28mm. Coming to each of these descriptive triple-fixed rubber mounts on the drum – The company airports, harbours and railways. Tandem rollers says it performs features one by one he explains that the both increasing the component lifetime are primarily used in asphalt compaction 25-85% faster than model comes with a five-year airtime significantly and reducing cost of operation,” applications for road maintenance, like competitors. contract for JCB’s Livelink, which massively Boenisch emphasises. roads for models below 5t operating weight PROVING IN INDIA and heavy-duty road construction. Smaller models, such as the JCB CT160 and CT260 AMMANN ARX 91 ARTICULATED TANDEM ROLLER PASSES A TOUGH TEST torque motor that required less RPMs and where bigger machines have no access due to An Indian contractor Surana further adds that comfortable driving the ARX 91, constrained space. We’re increasingly selling tested an Ammann ARX 91 the operators were pleased with excellent visibility to the both soil compactors and tandem rollers to Articulated Tandem Roller on with the Ammann compactor: front and rear drums till the edge rental businesses, which is another tough a jobsite and was extremely “Our operator was also very even while compacting closer environment we have considered when pleased with the results. to the edges. All the controls The Ammann ARX 91 “was are conveniently located on the developing our models.” able to achieve the desired operator platform providing
The jewel in JCB’s crown where compactors compaction at our jobsite operator comfort with are concerned is the 116D. Going into the in fewer passes, which zero fatigue allowing the reasons why the machine is the company’s resulted in overall operator to work longer flagship in the Middle East, Boenisch says: savings in fuel/diesel hours at a stretch.” “This region has an extremely high demand costs,” according The ease of access for new infrastructure such as road, railways, to Anurag Surana, to service points and airports and seaports. This requires an general manager, Ammann’s support enormous amount of earth moving and, of Mechanical, at drew a special course, compaction. The 116D is the ideal Prakash Asphalting praise. In conclusion, machine to cover a wide range of jobs from & Toll Highways Surana states: “We very large-scale and heavy-duty applications India Ltd. He would consider down to medium-sized infrastructure projects. mentions the ARX procuring the Ammann For customers in the Middle East, the 116D is 91 was 5% to 8% more Articulated Tandem the standard size of machine. The market stats fuel efficient than other Roller Model ARX 91 highly confirm this. This is why JCB has invested a products in its segment. in the future for our fleet.”
Among other useful design elements that aid maintenance, he points out that all maintenance points are easily reachable from ground level. The centralised service station for the hydraulics eases machine health checks while the air filter scavenge system connects the air-filter with the exhaust pipe, which causes a vacuum. As a result, dust and dirt in the air-filter is automatically blown away. This reduces the service effort, prolongs the filter lifetime and reduces operational cost.
“If worse comes to the worst and the engine doesn’t start, our towing pump is fast and easy to release the hydraulic brakes to tow the machine out of the way.”
The design and operator experience of the 116D is another point that has garnered plaudits from users, and Boenisch says: “The 116D has great visibility both front and rear. The front frame is raised so that the operator can comfortably see the machine’s front-end. This is particularly important when loading the unit on a trailer. The rear bonnet is flat and has a very low angle. This ensures we have best-in-class rear visibility. An intelligent rear chassis design enhances the rear view through the mirrors to ensure you always stay in the roller track and work safely. With all of its features, the 116D became exactly what we expected for our dealers in the Middle East: a popular machine amongst customers with high rotation.”
Another reason for the acceptance of JCB compactors in the region is the way the company customises its products for the Middle East. “If you desire satisfied customers
JCB’s roller stable also includes smaller models, such as the CT160 and CT260, which find use on compaction jobs, where bigger machines have no access due to constrained space. you have to modify machines prior to bringing them into service in the Middle East. The region is a challenge for machinery due to the harsh environment as well as tough applications. Also, the fuel quality is different to what we are used to in, say, Europe. Machines in the Middle East must stand the heat and the fuel. They have to be robust, reliable and easy to repair,” Boenisch explains.
In the case of the 116D the making it suitable for the region entailed rigorous testing and proving in extra-hot climates during its development. Other features that make it more suitable for region include a mechanically driven engine, which can withstands poor fuel quality better than a common rail engine and is also easy to service and repair even by mechanics other than the dealer’s. This makes repairs more readily available, faster and cheaper for customers. To improve lubrication of the fuel as it is available in the Middle East, the 116D comes with a Fuel Lubrication Filter, which protects the fuel injection pump, the injectors and finally the engine itself.
According to Boenisch, some other key common features make all JCB compactors popular propositions in the Middle East. These include JCB’s Livelink Telematics, which improves cost management, productivity, service and safety; and AVC (automatic vibration controls), which switches vibration off when machine is static to avoid inhomogeneous or over-compaction.
While having advanced and robust machines tailored for the region, JCB, like everyone else, has had to face the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and adapt to new ground realities. Recounting the brand’s experience in this regard, Boenisch says: “Yes, Covid-19 has affected our roller business. When the pandemic tightened its grip in the first quarter, we felt the first impact with supply chains breaking up. This affected our output against a huge order bank. As we all know, the global demand then fell in quarter two with many countries going into lockdowns
ROLLING IN THE FUTURE
BOMAG PRESENTS AUTONOMOUS ROBOMAG
Robomag is the name of the fully autonomous tandem roller developed by Bomag as a technological study. According to the roadmaking equipment specialist, Robomag builds on the knowledge gained by Bomag in cooperation with the Technical University of Kaiserslautern when converting road rollers to fully autonomous systems. Technologies such as GPS, Lidar and state-of-the-art position sensors are used in the Robomag.
Bomag says it is making its vision of fully autonomous construction machinery a reality with With Robomag. A fully autonomous tandem roller, Robomag can be used completely independently in a defined work area. For loading or manual operation, the Robomag tandem roller can be operated simply by remote control.
The system obtains information on position, situation and movement using a combination of different technologies for spatial orientation, environmental perception and environmental safety. A comprehensive safety concept with sensory environment recognition is used to prevent collisions. In addition to the fully automatic mode, the Robomag also has the option to follow manually entered movement patterns so the roller can perform its task autonomously even with special compaction jobs. It goes without saying that the roller has a mechanical emergency stop mechanism in every mode.
While the tandem roller travels autonomously, Bomag’s well-known Asphalt Manager 2 takes care of the intelligent active control and monitoring of the compaction power. At the same time, Asphalt Manager 2 ensures that the compaction performance is comprehensively and transparently documented.
Robomag is a pure technology study and serves Bomag as a vision for the not so far future. Bomag gave a sneak peak of the future machine study at Bauma last year, where visitors experienced Robomag working autonomously in a live demonstration.
and pausing construction activities. Also, we had to close our plants for some weeks during April and May. Our people are our highest priority and we have implemented several safety measures to make sure the whole team remains healthy. Now, however, I‘m happy to report that since May we have returned to full operations with a very healthy order bank stretching far into next year.”
Thar order bank is testimony that JCB is looking at the future with positivity, and Boenisch adds: “The Middle East is huge and has a massive potential for infrastructure development. Therefore, we focus our machine development on this environment. We see some positive signs of growth remerging in the region, particularly in Saudi Arabia.”
Meanwhile, at another giant of the roadmaking equipment sector, Dynapac, Issam Gharaibeh, regional business line manager – MENA, says: “Our most important rollers are the CA class soil compactors, which are very popular in our region for a long time now. A new version of the CA30, launched just a few weeks ago, is our flagship soil compactor. For asphalt paving, our most popular model is the CP275 pneumatic roller. Our single and tandem rollers are of course available with vibration and oscillation features and the pneumatic are the static rollers.”
The Dynapac range in the Middle East is made for the working conditions of the region,
Dynapac’s most important soil compactor in the region is the CA30, whose new version was launched recently. It is part of the company’s popular CA class and has Dyn@Link telematics. Gharaibeh adds. The machines Dynapac supplies here also meet some internal regulations stipulated by each country in the region on a country-by-country basis.
“What you can use in the UAE, for example, you may not be able to use in another country in the region because of certain local laws and regulations. Overall, the machines we sell here are made to suit the job-site conditions of the region, such as being able to work in very high temperature, often above 50-degress Celsius.”
Dynapac has consistently been among the top-three players worldwide and that holds true for the Middle East as well, Gharaibeh points out. “We are either number one, two or three depending on which country in the region you look at or the category of machine. When you take the entire region and all machine categories as a whole, we are among the top three. When customers are looking for rollers, pavers or other roadmaking equipment, we are invariably on their minds.”
Covid-19 has been a mixed bag for Dynapac, affecting it in some countries in the region, but enabling it to do even better in others than in normal times. “Some governments have not only continued with infrastructure construction through the pandemic, but also taken advantage of the opportunity provided by the lower traffic in these times, especially in the lockdowns, to ramp up their roadbuilding efforts,” explains Gharaibeh. “Due to this, we have not been as affected by Covid-19 as may have been expected.”
This is also due to the fact that Dynapac was able to support its customers by using technology to the fullest. “Our machines are connected and monitored by telematics such as Dyn@Link, and we were able to troubleshoot remotely using this technology. We are always close to our customers, and even during Covid times we used all tech tools we could to maintain that closeness, such as frequent teleconferencing, etc.”
This customer focus is the reason, Gharaibeh believes, that Dynapac counts some of top companies as its customers. “Saudi Aramco is a key long-term customer for us, and we also have projects in Egypt. Our machines are also working on projects with the UAE’s Etihad Railway. Our biggest market here is KSA and most of the projects there are related to Aramco, where a major contractor is using Dynapac equipment extensively.”
NINTH TRIAL SERIES VIDEO CELEBRATES MILESTONE WITH PACMAN PLAYED BY REMOTE CONTROLLED CAT SKIDSTEERS IN A MAZE BUILT ON A JOB-SITE BY CAT HEAVY EQUIPMENT
PAC-MAN – CAT STYLE Caterpillar celebrated its 95th anniversary recently with the release of the first Cat Trial video in four years, continuing its successful Cat Trials series, which so far has eight videos with over 18 million views. For the new video, the Cat Trial #9: PACMAN, the company delves into the video-gaming world to showcase Cat products, technology and services and celebrate its 95th anniversary, while PAC-MAN celebrates its 40th anniversary. The Cat Trial #9: PAC-MAN brings the iconic video game to the construction job-site, playing it out on a 49.5m by 55m version of the iconic PACMAN gameboard — 19,040% larger than the original scale of the maze on the classic arcade screen. Built and played using the latest Cat equipment, it also uses Cat’s latest grade and remote technology. Victoria Keese Morrissey, global marketing and brand director, Caterpillar, said: “These trials are designed to surprise and delight our customers and prospects, as well as people outside our industry. Challenges that the ghosts pose to PAC-MAN strike a unique metaphor for obstacles lurking around each corner of the job-site. ‘POWER PELLETS’ represent the role Cat dealer services play in helping our customers.” The original PAC-MAN gameboard design was loaded into the Cat GRADE with 3D system on the 336 Next Gen excavator, eliminating the need for stakes and grade checkers, saving time in the construction. In total, the 336 took 70 labour hours to create the life-size gameboard with 151 corners and 1.2m high walls. Roughly 195m3 of cut/fill dirt was removed. Support equipment, also using Cat GRADE with 3D to ensure they followed the same plan, included multiple Cat dozers, wheel loaders, a 323 excavator, trucks and water wagons. Five Cat 236D3 remote controlled skid-steer loaders, rented from The Cat Rental Store, were used to represent PAC-MAN and the four ghosts – BLINKY, INKY, CLYDE and PINKY. PAC-MAN and ghost avatars atop the Cat loaders could be seen above the maze walls. The game players controlling the skid-steers using line-of-sight remote control systems were: Jim Kosner of JIMAX Landscaping & Demolition, from Peoria, USA, controlling PAC-MAN; NASCAR driver Joey Stone controlling BLINKY; Caterpillar Global Operator Challenge regional finalist Alfonso Farjardo controlling INKY; CLYDE by Tom Gardocki, The Dirt Ninja, social media influencer; while PINKY was under the control of YouTube content creator BLITZ. Million views of the Cat Trial videos so far in eight previous editions 18
