Dynapac

Starting back in March 2017, the project to widen a 22 kilometers stretch of the A13 motorway, between Dozulé and Pont -Évêque (Calvados) into 2 x 3 lanes, is getting close to completion. The project was justified by an ever-increasing traffic of 40,000 vehicles per day, of which 14% are heavy goods vehicles. The work has been undertaken by the Société des autoroutes Paris-Normandie (Sapn, Sanef group) and will significantly improve traffic conditions.

The widening works of the A13 motorway on the section linking Dozulé to Pont-l'Evêque are in their final phase: the implementation of the new wearing course. The Toffolutti company, which specializes in the manufacture and application of road surfaces, has been entrusted with the delicate task of producing and applying the new wearing course according to a special draining asphalt mix. This has many advantages for users: it avoids splashing water in rainy weather, limits the risk of aquaplaning and reduces noise pollution for residents of the municipalities crossed. "The challenge for us was to achieve a layer of four centimeters of asphalt over 22 kilometers with three lanes, plus the emergency lane (BAU), in one piece and with an irreproachable quality of work" , explains Stéphane Leplé, Chairman of the Management Board of Toffolutti.
 

A race against time

Carried out at night and without closing the motorway, the work was organized in several successive workshops (milling workshop for the existing pavement, application of a layer of cold-cast asphalt, installation of the final wearing course, horizontal signs). To optimize rates and intervention times, the project has mobilized significant human and material resources: around one hundred people, three asphalt plants, three milling machines, three pavers, five sweepers, around sixty semi- trailers and two horizontal painting workshops to name some of them. "The project consists of a complete highway train; an MF2500CM feeder, an SD2550CS highway paver and its large screed that can work up to 12.75 meters, plus a compaction set-up made up of sixth generation Dynapac CC5200 tandem rollers", specifies Philippe Mahé, Sales Responsible Western Region at Dynapac France, expert and leading supplier of sustainable solutions for road construction. “At Dynapac, we remind that a “feeder” of asphalt mixes is a machine which allows to feed the paver homogeneously and constantly and to reduce the duration of the site while improving the quality and the smoothness of the work. The feeder is in-between the trucks and the paver, transferring the materials from the trucks to the paver by means of high heat resistance rubber mats. An additional hopper in the paver stores the materials, while the asphalt level is controlled by a sensor attached to the feeder belt arm.
 

First in France

“The SD2550 CS paver allows us to pave a width of 12.75 meters with two extensions on each side of 2.20 meters, with another slope,” adds Jacky Houssin, consultant for the Toffolutti Asphalt Works Department. “This screed works with electric heating and we are the first in France to have this machine. It makes it possible to lay 2,200 tons of 4 centimeters asphalt for six hours of work on the site, ” he adds. For the realization of this very high quality draining coating layer, Dynapac experts has been present at the site from the start to the end. “For the entire project, Toffolutti and the Sovale equipment and construction equipment rental company has dealt with one single point of contact who communicated the needs of the Toffolutti company to the factories, especially for the creation of a screed with triple break in a very short time. The project required the commitment of all of Dynapac, from the development teams to the final commissioning on the site, ” Philippe Mahé explains. Stéphane Leplé welcomes the constant support: “We have been working with Dynapac for years, and on this site, they supported us from the commissioning of the equipment and the first working nights. It is thanks to Dynapac taking this seriously and their know-how that we were able to meet the deadlines."