Coastal Highway links 12 states over 4,000 km: Over 65 Wirtgen Group machines on Brazil’s BR 101

Latin America, and in particular Brazil, are countries spread over an enormous area. It is little wonder, therefore, that construction projects assume huge dimensions, comprising several thousands of kilometres. A prime example of this is the BR 101 highway: it runs along the coast from south to north over a distance of 4,000 km, crossing as many as 12 Brazilian states. Around 750 km of this major highway are now being rehabilitated and expanded. Part of the construction gang: dozens of machines and plants from all companies of the Wirtgen Group.

The southern construction section: “Mercosur Route”

The southern project section of the BR 101 highway covers a distance of 350 km. It is located in a region of high industrial density, connecting the “heartland” of Brazil with the neighbouring states of Uruguay and Argentina. Around 20 construction companies are involved in this section of the large project. Traffic on the highway, which was built over 30 years ago, comes to as many as 15,000 vehicles per day. Rehabilitating and expanding this section of the highway is essential for the development of trade and industry in this southern region of Brazil as it will, among other things, lead to a reduction in transport costs. The dimensions are truly enormous: earthmoving operations involve the excavation, loading and transport of around 33,680,000 m³ of soil. 3,036,350 tons of hot mix is produced for the paving of asphalt carriageways. Deadline pressure, high traffic volumes and the absence of alternative roads capable of accommodating traffic during the construction project underscore the complexity of this huge construction project.

The construction section in the northeastern corridor

On the northeastern section of the BR 101 highway, the project extends over 400 km running through three states – Rio Grande Norte, Paraíba and Pernambuco. This section is of strategic relevance to the region because the highway links five major ports and is the main artery for the sugar cane industry. 50% of this section of the project has been completed, involving investments of 850 million US dollars.

To speed up completion of the remaining 50%, the government has secured assistance from the Army, which is responsible for three out of the eight project lots in the northeastern section. “We took a close look at how the project was unfolding, and realized that we needed to make improvements in terms of equipment and staff. One of the challenges we were facing was how to go about concrete paving, as that is a new technological experience for the Army,” says Colonel Raul Galvão Caval cante. The BR 101 is the first federal highway to be built as a concrete road. To accomplish this job, the Army purchased SP 250 and SP 850 slipform pavers from Wirtgen. And ultimately the new customers were extremely satisfied with the machines they had purchased, as Colonel Patrick Lira Tubino, Fleet Manager of the 1st Army Engineering Division, confirms: “After the first year of project execution, we carried out a technical evaluation of the performance of all machines being used. The equipment and technologies from Ciber and the Wirtgen Group had outstanding results.”

Machinery in operation

Hamm single-drum compactors for earthmoving: 3410 and 3411
Single-drum compactors type 3410/3411 from Hamm, equipped with padfoot drums, are being used to compact the highly cohesive subgrade soil in the region. Machines with smooth drums are also used, their job being to compact the so-called “roller-compacted concrete” (RCC).

Road pavers from Ciber and Vögele: AF 5000 Plus and SUPER 1600-1
Road pavers from Ciber and Vögele are being used for paving an intermediate layer, the goal being to pave a level and strong supporting surface on top of the RCC layer. The concrete slab is then paved on top of this base.

Wirtgen slipform pavers: SP 250 and SP 850
Two large Wirtgen SP 850 slipform pavers are in operation on the northern section, paving concrete in a continuous operation in particular on those stretches that are most heavily stressed by heavy industrial traffic. To ensure the highest possible productivity, the mobile road construction plants are continuously supplied with concrete by concrete mixers and feeders. Weather conditions in Brazil’s northeastern region require a curing compound to be applied immediately after the texture has been produced by means of Wirtgen TCM 950 texture curing machines. The SP 250 slipform pavers contribute to the large project by producing the concrete traffic barriers.

Wirtgen cold milling machines: W 1000 L and W 1900
The milling machines from Wirtgen are used on some sections to expand the highway or to remove damaged pavement stretches for subsequent rehabilitation by paving new asphalt layers.

Ciber mixing plants: UACF 17 P-2
As many as 14 mixing plants are in operation, their highly demanding job being to produce the entire quantity of hot mix required for this project – needless to say, in top, homogeneous mixing quality. The benefits offered by these plants: they are mobile, allowing them to be set up quickly and easily at different points along the project after the previous construction sections have been completed. The mixing plants type UACF 17 P produce between 80 and 120 tons per hour of hot mix while being environmentally friendly and economically efficient at the same time: thanks to the filter technology developed by Ciber, emissions are less than 50 mg/N3.