Business Design & Innovation
Intelligente Walsen
With the ‘Smart roadroller’ project, Smart Mobility researched how using smart systems can further improve asphalt paving of roads, by replacing quality control on pavements, currently done after the work has finished, with tests during the paving procedure.
Problem
How can the use of smart systems improve the construction of asphalt roads? Can quality control on pavements, currently done after the work has finished, be replaced with tests during the paving procedure? Today the quality of the paved road is checked reactively. There’s a double disadvantage to this method: the drilling damages the recently laid road, and if results are negative, the pavement cannot be improved.
Solution
If the construction is followed up immediately, i.e. monitored with roadrollers equipped with a system that registers a number of parameters and sends signals to the driver during the paving procedure, the contractor can make adjustments during the construction work. Upon completion, he can hand over the roadroller pattern and corresponding results. This will result in drilling becoming completely superfluous or being reduced to an absolute minimum. This will lead to better constructed asphalt roads. A few road building companies already have such roadrollers. However, they don’t use them because building contractors aren’t familiar with the functioning, application and added value of smart roadrollers.
Project Development
VFour smart asphalt roadrollers from different manufacturers were used for the test on the N70 in Lokeren. The project team compared the results of the smart systems with those of the drilling activities on the site. All results indicated that the desired asphalt thickness was reached. The smart systems provided a continuous image of the work and assisted the machinist with his work.
Advantage
By using smart roadrollers, adjustments can be made while the work is done, so the new pavement doesn’t need to be damaged for quality control. This leads to a better road quality with less road works, resulting in less traffic jams, disruptions, accidents and noise pollution.
This project had the financial support of the Agency for innovation and entrepreneurship
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