Skip to main content

Pioneering move for Cat paver

Melbourne winters are known as some of the coldest of all state capital cities on Australia's mainland, and its summers can be brutally hot. As a result, roads in the region need to be regularly maintained to ensure safety and promote longevity. Pioneer Road Services, headquartered in Victoria, recently took delivery of the first Cat AP300 asphalt paver to Australia, and it will be the first to play a role in maintaining the city's roads throughout the seasons. With the help of Cat dealer William Adams and
July 16, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The first Cat AP300 asphalt paver in Australia
Melbourne winters are known as some of the coldest of all state capital cities on Australia's mainland, and its summers can be brutally hot. As a result, roads in the region need to be regularly maintained to ensure safety and promote longevity.
Pioneer Road Services, headquartered in Victoria, recently took delivery of the first Cat AP300 asphalt paver to Australia, and it will be the first to play a role in maintaining the city's roads throughout the seasons.

With the help of Cat dealer William Adams and the 178 Caterpillar commissioning team, Pioneer Road Services put the new paver finisher through its inaugural paces on an important shoulder reconstruction project for an 8km stretch of highway between Pakenham and Drouin, southeast of Melbourne.

According to the paving crew on site, the project was challenging. Traffic control was critical, as the road was busy and space was at a premium. With the project's narrow paving width, machine productivity and manoeuvrability were critical. Pioneer Road Services knew the powerful, yet small, Cat AP300 with electric screed (model AS3173) would fit the bill, as crews raced to resurface the shoulders of the busy highway in preparation for the approaching winter.

Available in both LPG and electric heating systems, the hydraulic power extendable AS3173 screed offers variable frequency tamper or vibrators, and lays material to the desired depth and width. With mechanical extensions added to both sides, its maximum paving width can reach 4m.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Lower cost production
    April 16, 2012
    In Australia local authorities are facing increasing pressure to keep roads properly maintained while cutting costs at the same time. This presents a major problem, however two local authorities have begun using a novel solution to road maintenance and repairs, based around using the latest version of Caterpillar's RM300 rotary mixer.
  • Swiss mini-motorways made bigger
    July 10, 2012
    Widening the busy A4 road in Switzerland to four lanes was achieved quickly by using the latest paving technology. Increased traffic required the widening of the A4 from two to four lanes along a 20km section, with two lanes separated by a central divider in each direction. Carrying 20,000-25,000 vehicles/day, the trunk road between Winterthur and Schaffhausen was one of Switzerland's busiest two-lane stretches, and as a result, the Federal Council of Switzerland in Bern planned an enlargement of the dual-l
  • Terex Roadbuilding up to bridge paving challenge
    April 23, 2013
    Taking on a major bridge project in Calgary, Alberta province, Canada prompted Mission, British Columbia-based Camwood Construction to reassess its practice of subcontracting deck paving works. Inside the Terex booth at World of Concrete 2012, representatives from Camwood met with Mike Rodriguez, district manager for Terex Roadbuilding, and discussed the Terex Bid-Well 4800 paver on display. “The 4800 was the size of machine we needed for the Calgary job,” said Camwood owner Jeremy Woodman. Tony Regina, Cam
  • Dynapac pavers essential for Essen B68 bypass
    August 21, 2015
    A brand new Dynapac SD2500CS tracked paver is building a bypass road around the town of Essen (Oldenburg) in northwest Germany. Traffic has to pass through the town centre, leading to traffic jams and unsafe situations. A bypass road will relieve the town centre of this traffic and will increase the comfort of living in the city centre. The old B68 highway is a narrow two-lane street, where, according to residents, two trucks struggle to pass each other. The SD2500CS is being run with a V6000TVH v