Roller with MCA-2000.jpgThe Kaliningrad motorway ""Primorsk Ring"" is one of the prestige projects currently under construction within the scope of infrastructure improvements in the Russian exclave. With a total length of approximately 180 kilometres, of which 81 kilometres are motorway, the ring road will encircle the 500,000 resident city of Kaliningrad in a broad arc around the Samland peninsula. Completion of the billion ruble project is scheduled for 2015 and should facilitate comfortable travel for residents, tourists and football fans, who will be travelling to the 2018 World Cup football venue in Kaliningrad. Four sections have already been opened to traffic; a fifth section is currently under construction.

For ZAO VAD, the construction consortium which is performing the work, precise and error-free construction of the road has top priority. To accomplish this, the right material composition, material temperature, smooth paving process and then a precise compaction of the asphalt are necessary. ""During road construction, it is very important that work be performed exactly and painstakingly from the first to the last work step. Compaction of the paved material is one aspect that plays a key part for a successful result"", explains Ronald Brinks from ZAO VAD.

For this purpose, ZAO VAD, in cooperation with OOO SMD Balt Avtomatika, installed the MOBA Compaction Assistant system (MCA-2000) on a roller. ""The requirement in this project was to make the compaction more controllable as, in the past, this was based solely on the experience of the worker and there was no continuous monitoring of the results. Moreover, it was to be possible to create a quality certificate for the performed compaction work. That is why we decided to use the MCA-2000"", says Yuri Dolgilevitch from OOO SMD Balt Avtomatika. With the MCA-2000, the material can now be compacted in a more controlled manner and much more precisely. The system uses temperature sensors to measure the temperature of the paved asphalt. This information appears directly on the display and the roller operator can use it to compact in precisely those areas where the temperature is in the optimum temperature range from 100 to 140 degrees Celsius. ""During comparison measurements, the temperature displayed by the system was identical to the temperature that we measured and thereby facilitates a reliable temperature measurement"", says Yuri Dolgilevitch. This prevents asphalt that is either too cold or too hot from being compacted. Because this can lead to material damages and, thus, to a reduced road quality.

Precise overview of the passes – live and in colour

In addition to the temperature, the system also records the passes of the roller by means of GPS positioning and compares the target and actual passes. The current status is visualised in real time on the seven-inch, touch-screen display: using a colour scheme, the roller operator can identify where a sufficient amount of compaction has been performed and what sections still require passes. ""In addition to supporting the operator, it is important for us that this data still be available afterwards. Because only in this way can we document the quality"", says Ronald Brinks from ZAO VAD. This is made possible by the ability of the MCA-2000 to record and store all data such as passes and temperature. The data is compiled for the report and read out using a USB stick and is then available for future use and documentation.

Simple to operate, reliable in use

Even Nikolaj Afanasjev was immediately thrilled with the system: ""It is simple to use and no long training is necessary. I am particularly pleased that Russian is available as a language option"", says the roller operator. ""And the system functions reliably and without failure in use"", he adds. This is important for the smooth completion of a large project, since delays and errors can lead to high follow-up costs.

By exactly monitoring the compaction processes, unnecessary passes are avoided. This reduces fuel by approximately 20 percent and increases the efficiency during machine use by about one fifth as well. ""And installation can be performed quickly and easily on a wide range of rollers"", says Yuri Dolgilevitch.

MCA_2000 in Russia_en.pdf

MCA_2000 in Russland_de.pdf