Since acquiring German group Wirtgen in 2017, John Deere has focused on making its road construction equipment work as part of a connected paving system. A press and investor rally near Nashville, Tenn., in late May showed what this looks like in practice.
Rather than bringing in the machines one at a time, Deere demonstrated a continuous mill-and-fill pavement rehabilitation project, with production data moving from a Wirtgen cold mill to a Vögele paver, a Hamm roller and a John Deere operations center as the job progressed. The company teamed up several of its experts for the program.
The trip focused on using shared machine data to improve quality control, document completed work and help contractors address persistent labor shortages.
“We’re not just equipment specialists, we’re production systems specialists,” said Craig Lamarque, Wirtgen America’s vice president of digital products and event host. “We don’t just provide machines…we enable performance for our customers.”
The demonstration began with Wirtgen’s W 220 XF cold milling machine removing deteriorated asphalt before the paving and compaction team completed the rehabilitation sequence.
As work progressed, quality information flowed to John Deere’s on-site operations center, allowing supervisors to monitor activity remotely while automatically documenting completed work for owners and hauling agencies.
Conventional milling generally follows the profile of the existing road. “The solution to achieving and improving the surface, the ride quality, is that the mill actually grinds to multiple depths in multiple locations,” said Tom Chastain, milling product manager. “This is called differential milling.”
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ENR briefly operated the W 220 XF, shown above, after the demonstration. The cold mill turned out to be intuitive.
Pictured is a Wirtgen WR Series Cold Recycler and Soil Stabilizer. The machine uses digital guidance, automated steering and performance tracking technologies to document production while recycling existing pavement and stabilizing road base materials in place.
Photo: Bryan Gottlieb/ENR
Dual joysticks mounted on either side of the operator’s platform allowed steering from each position without changing settings, while the machine’s crab steering capability facilitated precise lateral adjustments. Steering inputs were immediate enough that the machine felt considerably more nimble than its size would suggest. The experience reinforced Deere’s argument that improving machine interfaces can shorten the learning curve for less experienced operators.
Wirtgen specialist Dwayne Kahn noted that the machine itself is well established, while its digital capabilities continue to evolve.
“The machine, in terms of the milling itself, has been around for a while,” he said, explaining that newer technologies like Working Performance Tracker and Smart Level Pro have been integrated into the platform in recent years.
This emphasis on simplifying operations continued through paving. Tyler Brand, corporate account support manager, demonstrated Smart Pave, which replaces painted guidelines with digital paving models that are uploaded before work begins.
“You don’t have to paint lines, you save at least two hours a day,” Brand said, adding that eliminating manual layout also removes workers from live traffic during one of the most dangerous stages of paving.
Compaction followed the same philosophy. Dan Sandlinsamol, compaction application support manager, said proper density remains one of the most important measures of pavement quality.
“Studies show that a 1% increase in density can extend life by at least 10%,” he said while demonstrating the Smart Compact Pro’s real-time density measurement system.
Hunter Harward, digital technical support manager, demonstrated how production information flows into the John Deere Operations Center as work progresses. He also explained Deere’s digital core capability, which allows users to generate virtual core samples anywhere on a project from the operations center instead of cutting physical cores from freshly paved pavement.
The Kleemann MOBIREX MR 110 mobile impact crusher processes reclaimed asphalt and concrete directly on the job site, reducing transportation while producing recycled material for reuse. Its automated feed control and performance monitoring systems are designed to optimize performance and reduce operator intervention.
Photo: Bryan Gottlieb/ENR
Company officials said the technology aims to reduce destructive testing while creating a permanent digital record of pavement quality, though wider adoption will depend on acceptance by transportation agencies.
Deere also demonstrated Kleemann mobile shredders capable of processing reclaimed asphalt on the jobsite for reuse, to reduce transportation while returning recycled material to new pavement.
While reclaimed asphalt pavement is already being recovered at high rates in the U.S., Deere said European contractors have generally adopted higher recycled content mixes and more integrated recycling practices, an approach the company hopes will spread to North America.
It is not known whether transportation agencies will eventually adopt the digital core as an alternative to traditional pavement sampling.
Throughout the demonstration, Deere repeatedly emphasized that information generated during milling, paving and compaction can be shared throughout the paving process, allowing contractors to monitor production and quality as the job progresses rather than at the end of the job.
Editor’s note: John Deere paid for ENR’s travel expenses to attend the demonstration at Wirtgen Group’s technology facility near Nashville, Tenn.
