Night Shift Against the Backdrop of a German Fairytale Castle
BY Wirtgen Group
Neuschwanstein Castle gets new carriageway surface course with the SUPER 1800-5 X Vögele paver
Steep inclines with hardly any room to maneuver and darkness made up the conditions for rehabilitating the surface course in front of Germany’s most famous castle. In order not to disrupt visitor operations, work could only be carried out at night. The contractor opted for the Vögele SUPER 1800-5 X paver and new Dash 5 technologies such as the integrated Light Package Plus.
“With Light Package Plus, we were able to illuminate all relevant paver and work areas in a targeted manner, thereby ensuring maximum safety, even in the dark.”—Stefan Keller, senior site manager, Geiger Hoch- und Tiefbau Gmbh & Co. KG
Neuschwanstein Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and arguably the most famous tourist attraction in Germany. A good portion of the approximately 1.4 million visitors each year make the climb to the castle by horse-drawn carriage. This is because, apart from emergency and maintenance vehicles, only they are allowed to drive on the steep, winding road. However, the horses’ iron-shod hooves put a unique strain on the asphalt. (See a similar situation with a mix design response in “Fuel-Resistant Asphalt Binder Resists Asphalt Breakdown in St. Augustine” from the June 2019 AsphaltPro issue.)
Fuel-Resistant Asphalt Binder Resists Asphalt Breakdown in St. Augustine
The Bavarian Palace Administration therefore commissioned Geiger Hoch- und Tiefbau GmbH & Co. KG to rehabilitate the surface course along the entire length of 1.3 km, which features a winding, uphill road leading to the castle.
Given the steep incline and twists and turns, the high traction of the crawler track and the new SmartWheel steering system came in handy. The rotary control on the ErgoPlus 5 paver operator’s console enables particularly sensitive control.
First, around 7,000 m² of asphalt surface was milled off using a W 100 CFi Wirtgen cold milling machine.
The light output of the integrated LED spotlights is comparable to that of light balloons, but they do not need to be transported or assembled separately. “This saved us a lot of setup time here on the job site,” said Senior Site Manager Stefan Keller.
This was followed by paving with the SUPER 1800-5 X. In three nights, the paver laid approximately 800 tonnes of surface course material in a width varying from 5 to 6 m and a thickness of around 4 cm.
“With Light Package Plus, we were able to illuminate all relevant paver and work areas in a targeted manner, thereby ensuring maximum safety, even in the dark.”—Stefan Keller, senior site manager, Geiger Hoch- und Tiefbau Gmbh & Co. KG
The assignment presented the team with another challenge: To minimize disruption to visitors, work had to be carried out at night. The team used the Light Package Plus lighting. This package, offered by Vögele for all Dash 5 pavers, includes LED lighting integrated into the hardtop and crossbar of the control panel, which illuminates the driver’s workstation as well as all service points accessible from the platform. In addition, the tow point rams are equipped with LEDs. Three LED spotlights, which can be flexibly positioned thanks to magnetic mounts, illuminate any desired work area, such as the side plate of the screed or the hopper wall.
Light Package Plus, which was used during paving at Neuschwanstein Castle, features powerful LEDs integrated into a specially developed hardtop extension. They are designed to ensure optimum illumination across a paving width of up to 10 m and up to 4 m behind the screed. The light output of the integrated LED spotlights is comparable to that of light balloons, but they do not need to be transported or assembled separately.
In combination with the latest generation of the AB 600 extending screed, the SUPER 1800-5 X was ready to give a relatively quiet paving performance.
“This saved us a lot of setup time here on the job site,” said Senior Site Manager Stefan Keller. “With Light Package Plus, we were able to illuminate all relevant paver and work areas in a targeted manner, thereby ensuring maximum safety even in the dark.”
In combination with the AB 600 Dash 5 extending screed and its compacting systems of tamper and vibrators, the paver also achieved high pre-compacting. All components that come into contact with the material are constantly heated, which ensured a homogeneous surface structure. Compared to the previous model, the new extending screed can be heated more efficiently and is quieter in operation thanks to structural optimizations. Together with the noise-optimized drive concept of the SUPER 1800-5 X, the paving team was able to ensure that nighttime operation was as quiet as possible.