Skip to main content

Italian highway link completed

A challenging road construction project is being carried out in Italy within a tight timeframe, with assistance from a new Marini asphalt plant. The project is for the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway and the work has to be completed before the end of 2016. Local contractor Bulfaro is carryiing out the work to complete surfacing work to the Macrolotto 3.2; a 40km section of the highway between Laino Borgo and Campotenese. This section of the route is at an altitude of over 800m but the work was complicated b
January 24, 2017 Read time: 3 mins
A Marini mobile asphalt plant is playing a key role in the construction of a new highway in Calabria in Southern Italy
A challenging road construction project is being carried out in Italy within a tight timeframe, with assistance from a new 273 Marini asphalt plant. The project is for the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway and the work has to be completed before the end of 2016. Local contractor Bulfaro is carryiing out the work to complete surfacing work to the Macrolotto 3.2; a 40km section of the highway between Laino Borgo and Campotenese. This section of the route is at an altitude of over 800m but the work was complicated by the fact that the road runs through the Pollino National Park situated in the Calabrian Apennines.

The Italian government set the tight time schedule for the work to be completed and Bufaro took on the surfacing work on behalf of CMB Ghella. The contractor realised it would require a highly mobile, versatile and productive plant for the job and opted to utilise the Marini XPRESS 2500 as a result.

The plant comprises separate trailer units for the cold-feeders, the dryer, the filter and the mixing tower with the hot elevator. A key feature is that the plant can be erected without the need of a crane, which was highly important given the location of the working area for this project. The mixing level is raised up by hydraulic jacks while the screen, transported at the back of the trailer to ensure the unit remains within transport restrictions, is winched on tracks into position above the aggregate hopper.

For this job the machine was specified with five cold feeders, two bitumen hot-oil tanks, one 30m3 self-erecting silo and one 25m3 mobile asphalt storage bin. The plant can deliver a maximum production level of 200tonnes/hour, with an average production over 160tonnes/hour. A high percentage amount of RAP can also be used through the recycling feed into the dryer drum and the mixer.

For this job the plant has already delivered 110,000tonnes of asphalt, comprising both binder and base. This was laid over two and a half months, with up to 10% RAP in the mixer and 20% in the dryer. Once the project is complete the contractor will have produced close to 200,000tonnes of asphalt, including base, binder and wear course and the project is well on track to completion.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Asphalt for an airport
    September 12, 2023
    A Lintec CSD2500B containerised asphalt mixing plant is playing a key role for the Yap Island airport rehabilitation project in Micronesia
  • Innovative high performance asphalt technology
    February 14, 2012
    An authority replaces container wharf pavement damaged by forklift loads in world's first commercial use of high-performance asphalt base course. By Paul Fournier
  • Vögele sets paving record in German capital
    September 16, 2015
    Material transfer vehicles and remixing systems are crucial to delivering quality paving. Using material transfer vehicles (MTVs) can play a major role in delivering high quality road surfaces. These units can help boost quality by minimising the risk of material or thermal segregation. A major road paving project has been carried out in Germany using innovative paving methods. For the first time ever, binder and surface courses were paved over a width of 15.5m. This paving job was carried out on a 4.2km st
  • BOMAG offering new asphalt feeder
    February 17, 2016
    BOMAG is now adding material feeders to its asphalt paving equipment range. The new BMF 2500 feeders can help boost paving efficiency, productivity and quality by allowing a more homogenous flow of asphalt into the paver. These machines reduce the problems of asphalt segregation as well as cold spots forming in the mat. Such issues can occur when the last of the mix from each truck load passes from the paver hopper to the screed. Using a BMF 2500, contractors can also boost output on large highway paving jo