Master of the bend!

Paving a go-kart track with the Vögele SUPER 1303-3i paver.

“Like flying a helicopter in your living room” is how three-time world Formula 1 champion Nelson Piquet once described driving the Monte Carlo racing circuit.

A job site in Hemer, in Germany’s North-Rhine Westphalia, created a very similar impression as Vögele Compact Class pavers created a new karting track there. Two SUPER 1303-3i-type wheeled pavers delivered precision work on this project, paving incredibly tight bends over a distance of exactly 391.49 m.

If the world market leader for electric and gas-driven go-karts is building its own track outside its new headquarters, one thing is certain: the quality of the track must be every bit as good as that of the products made in the neighbouring factory. This made the Hemer job site at the headquarters of RiMO GERMANY GmbH & Co. KG a challenge which was met by road construction contractor Ossenberg Aufbereitung, Straßen- und Tiefbau GmbH with two Vögele pavers. Seven hairpin bends with a crossfall of up to 20% and a so-called chicane created a circuit in the northern area of Sauerland which makes perfect use of the small site and demands a great deal of skill from those driving the go-karts. The course is designed for testing go-karts, but locals also gain an extra leisure facility.

Vögele Compact Class pavers, two SUPER 1303-3i machines, took the lion’s share of paving the track which varies in width from 5.2 to 9.5 m. At the widest points, the paving team also used the SUPER 1803-2 Universal Class paver. A key factor in delivering a high-quality result here was the wheeled undercarriage. This is because wheeled pavers are an advantage when paving tight bends because they steer with extreme precision and their 6x4 drive means they always have grip. Two pneumatic rear tyres and four front wheels mounted on bogies also even up irregularities outstandingly well.

“It was impressive to see how smoothly the Vögele pavers took the bends,” says Dominik Twer, project manager at Ossenberg Aufbereitung, Straßen- und Tiefbau GmbH. The Pivot Steer function is mainly responsible for this. This is a steering brake which automatically brakes the rear wheel on the inside of the bend hydraulically. This effectively draws the machine round the bend, which in turn permits minimal turning circles; this is a huge bonus on cramped job sites in particular – on inner-city building projects as well as racing circuits, for example.

As is usual on race track job sites, paving was performed “hot to hot”. This is because the more bends a track has, the greater the benefit of the smallest possible pave width. This ensures that the auger always transfers the right quantity of material to the full width being paved - even if left and right-hand bends are constantly taking over from one another and the bends are extremely tight. This created a track which met specifications perfectly across the full pave width. In the process, Extending Screed AB 340 TV guaranteed top quality surfaces, as well as a high degree of evenness, ensuring that go-kart drivers will not lose contact with the ground in future. 

Supplying mix on the job site was a challenge: it was impossible for large trucks to drive around on the site, so a Vögele MT 3000-2i Offset material feeder was positioned at a favourable location close to the entrance where it was able to receive material from the mix truck. As soon as the two SUPER 1303-3i machines were working within range of the MT 3000-2i Offset, the material feeder used its pivoting conveyor to transfer mix to the material hoppers of the pavers. At all other points, the asphalt was transferred to wheeled loaders which then transported it to the pavers. On his trial run of the circuit to sign off the project, client and owner of RiMO, Peter Bertram, was very pleased: “Really demanding. I love it!”