Skip to main content

Topcon’s efficient Smoothride package offers high quality road resurfacing

The latest Smoothride system for road resurfacing from Topcon Positioning offers improved quality and efficiency for road construction. Ulrich Hermanski, vice president of Construction Business EMEA at the firm, said: “What we have in road construction, no-one else has.” The system combines sonic controls and GPS, providing high accuracy. The complete package includes road scanning technology that can be used to track road conditions and determine slope, gradient and wear. Hermanski said: “The thing that i
April 27, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Topcon’s Smoothride system offers effective resurfacing

The latest Smoothride system for road resurfacing from 342 Topcon Positioning offers improved quality and efficiency for road construction. Ulrich Hermanski, vice president of Construction Business EMEA at the firm, said: “What we have in road construction, no-one else has.”

The system combines sonic controls and GPS, providing high accuracy. The complete package includes road scanning technology that can be used to track road conditions and determine slope, gradient and wear. Hermanski said: “The thing that is different is the data collection and scanning for pointcloud data.”

This data can then be downloaded and analysed, with the system highlighting uneven or worn areas. A milling machine can then be used to remove the worn top layer of the roadway, with the milling drum following the data from the scan. Hermanski said: "With the data from the scanner, we can record the information, redesign the surface overnight and start milling the next morning.” This ensures that the drum leaves a smooth path on which the new road surface can then be paved.

The package is said to be simple to use and Hermanski concluded: “The only thing the contractor needs training on is for the scanning for the data collection.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Smarter compaction technology in use in Missouri
    October 2, 2018
    Intelligent compaction and infrared scanning technologies have been used to improve construction quality The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) carried out a year-long project throughout 2017 to demonstrate the use of intelligent compaction (IC), infrared scanning (IR), and Veta software to improve pavement construction operations. “We were looking for ways to assess quality in asphalt projects,” said Bill Stone, research administrator at MoDOT. “We are working towards better pavements that l
  • Sustainable Construction with Topcon
    February 7, 2024
    Michael Gomes, vice president of sustainability and corporate social responsibility at Topcon, talks to Mike Woof, editor of World Highways magazine, about the use of technology to deliver sustainability in road construction.
  • Road recycling
    September 27, 2023
    Easier to operate, thanks to the increasing use of GPS, and greener to run because of biofuels are two of the more innovative technologies being integrated into machine design by major road recycling equipment manufacturers.
  • Building a car dealership with machine control
    May 21, 2018
    Canadian contractor MB Ford Construction recently built a massive car sales facility in Canada. Meanwhile the highly specialised site preparation job was sub-contracted to another local firm, Rabb Construction. The new Dilawri Auto Mall was a sizeable, heavy civil project on a 6ha site. Rabb needed to level and grade the site for the four car dealer elevated building pads and their surrounding inventory lots and customer parking. The contract included excavating three storm water runoff retention ponds, wh