Non-stop milling and paving
Sandvik TriSpec tools were fitted to Wirtgen milling machines for an eight-mile, highway repavement contract. Work could only be carried out during the night and to do this, without unnecessary stops, Angel Brothers Enterprises Ltd. equipped all of their planers with Sandvik’s new TriSpec tools. The work was done as a continuous process with milling and asphalt laying being done simultaneously.
As the work was specified to be done over no more than two weeks, the contractor used three planers simultaneously with a fourth unit on standby: two Wirtgen W2100’s with a 2.1 m (7-foot) cut width and two Wirtgen W2200’s with a 3.7 m (12-foot) cut width. In one shift, they milled 29,165 cubic metres (95,687 cubic yards) of material.
The new TriSpec tools have a ring of carbide brazed around the nose area of the tool between the flare and the bottom of the tip. To reduce steel wash, the carbide ring diameter is larger than the base diameter of the carbide tip but smaller than the diameter of the steel body at ring location. “All this adds to an increased life, double compared to standard tools,” explains Claes Wikstrom at Sandvik. “It means work can go on through whole shifts without changing tools, thereby giving higher productivity.” Usually, crews will change tools at the end of the day. They do not want to change tools during a shift, especially at night jobs where there are time restraints. If the crew feels the tool will not make another complete shift, the old tools will be removed. With TriSpec, the tools can be expected to last two shifts and, in some cases, even longer. “I am really impressed with these tools,” says Toby Smith, Mill Superintendent at Angel Brothers. “Our planers remove two inches of asphalt top course andthree inches of the second concrete course,” he says. “With the Sandvik tools our crews can mill all night long and we don’t have to make expensive and time consuming stops for tool changes.”
As the work was specified to be done over no more than two weeks, the contractor used three planers simultaneously with a fourth unit on standby: two Wirtgen W2100’s with a 2.1 m (7-foot) cut width and two Wirtgen W2200’s with a 3.7 m (12-foot) cut width. In one shift, they milled 29,165 cubic metres (95,687 cubic yards) of material.
The new TriSpec tools have a ring of carbide brazed around the nose area of the tool between the flare and the bottom of the tip. To reduce steel wash, the carbide ring diameter is larger than the base diameter of the carbide tip but smaller than the diameter of the steel body at ring location. “All this adds to an increased life, double compared to standard tools,” explains Claes Wikstrom at Sandvik. “It means work can go on through whole shifts without changing tools, thereby giving higher productivity.” Usually, crews will change tools at the end of the day. They do not want to change tools during a shift, especially at night jobs where there are time restraints. If the crew feels the tool will not make another complete shift, the old tools will be removed. With TriSpec, the tools can be expected to last two shifts and, in some cases, even longer. “I am really impressed with these tools,” says Toby Smith, Mill Superintendent at Angel Brothers. “Our planers remove two inches of asphalt top course andthree inches of the second concrete course,” he says. “With the Sandvik tools our crews can mill all night long and we don’t have to make expensive and time consuming stops for tool changes.”
