JOB REPORT

Excellent grip for top speeds.

Rehabilitating the pavement of the Zolder-Terlaemen race track in Belgium

The Circuit Zolder in Belgium is well known to all those who love motor racing. Formula 1 race driver Niki Lauda won the “Belgian Grand Prix” here twice. Today, the 3,977 m long racing circuit is the venue of national and international motorsports events and is used as a testing ground by professional and amateur drivers alike.

To make sure that race drivers will still be able to go at full throttle in the future, the pavement on the race track was replaced completely over the entire length. This measure is repeated every ten years, because the many races leave their marks on the track, showing as rubber abrasion on the asphalt and pronounced pavement irregularities.

The operation began by milling off the 4 cm thick asphalt surface course on the race track and connecting lanes, totalling just under 50,000 m², using large milling machines 2100 DC and W 2100 from Wirtgen. As the profile of the Zolder circuit was to remain unchanged, the contractor decided to apply the so-called copy-milling method: several milling machines removed the pavement at precisely the same depth and in accordance with the existing cross-section. Using the Wirtgen levelling system, the machines produced a new surface that has precisely the same cross-section as the old race track.

The paving operation began after the milling machines from Wirtgen had removed about two thirds of the surface course within one single day. Two Vögele pavers, one Super 1800-1 and one Super 1900, paved a 10 m wide, continuous surface layer. The two pavers also placed the pavement in the chicane and the “Villeneuve bend” – a narrow right-left combination – with superior ease.

Following right behind the Vögele pavers, a host of rollers from Hamm compacted the new surface course to the specified density. One HD 130 and two DV 90 VO tandem rollers from Hamm compacted the pavement on the race track quickly and reliably using the oscillation mode. Static compaction was carried out by two static three-wheeled rollers from Hamm. After final compaction, the asphalt pavement fully complied with the strict demands placed on evenness and skid resistance.

All in all, the Wirtgen Group gang needed no more than three working days for replacing the pavement on the Zolder Circuit. Just a few days later, drivers practicing for the “Belcar Cup” enjoyed the excellent grip of the new asphalt pavement.