All set for "Road Construction 4.0"

VÖGELE's WITOS Paving Plus already fulfils the official requirements of the future

Digital planning, dynamic control, sustainable improvement – the demands on road construction projects are on the rise all over the world. A pilot project before the gates of Stuttgart now illustrates the form that the job site of the future is expected to take in the South West of Germany. The local Ministry of Transport has introduced QSBW 4.0 to this end.

The abbreviation stands for "Quality in Road Construction in Baden-Württemberg 4.0", a process which is set to become the standard by 2021. The objective of QSBW 4.0 is an uninterrupted and digitally controlled construction process designed to ensure excellent paving quality over the entire pavement, increasing the service life of asphalt layers.

Specifically, invitations to tender based on QSBW 4.0 criteria will require the inclusion of all the system components associated with a digitally controlled and monitored job site as defined by the QSBW 4.0 initiative. This comprises dynamic logistics and machine control, quality control and management, mobile networking, display options on smart phones, tablets or computers as well as the documentation of all data with access authorization for clients.

The VÖGELE solution is QSBW-ready

VÖGELE developed WITOS Paving Plus with just such requirements in mind. This fully integrated, software-based overall system for process optimization and documentation comprises five inter-coordinated modules for the various parties involved in the process – from the asphalt mixing plant and the lorry driver to the construction manager. With WITOS Paving Plus, contractors can already meet virtually all the requirements affecting road pavers which will generally be specified in future in invitations to tender under QSBW 4.0.

RoadScan monitors the temperature, a key quality factor

Temperature measurements are the focus of the quality control measures specified in QSBW 4.0. To ensure an optimum asphalt temperature, measurements must be checked throughout the process, i.e. also during paving. Meeting these requirements is also a great deal easier with WITOS Paving Plus, since VÖGELE's RoadScan temperature-measurement solution can be integrated in the system. With RoadScan, a high-precision infrared camera scans the entire specified area behind the screed of the paver, across a width of 10m.

WITOS Paving Plus shines on its first rehabilitation job

In the project to rehabilitate a regional road, A. Waggershauser Straßenbau GmbH + CO. KG were able to fulfil QSBW 4.0 from the very first metre – thanks to WITOS Paving Plus. The process known as "Quality in Road Construction in Baden-Württemberg 4.0" or QSBW 4.0 was developed by the Ministry of Transport of Baden-Württemberg in collaboration with companies in the construction sector and summarized in a manual. The process has been trialled in a competitive environment since 2018 and the Ministry has now hailed the rehabilitation project as a successful "milestone in the digitization of road construction".

VÖGELE's solution for the process-optimization and documentation of road construction projects has thus proven its ability to help contractors gear up for the future.