Highway Rehabilitation in the Heartland of the Texas Oil Belt
In the Permian Basin, the most productive oil field in the USA, the focus is on the rehabilitation of the badly deteriorated Interstate 20 between the most important oil production centers with Wirtgen slipform paving technology.
The Permian Basin covers a vast area of over 85,000 square miles through the states of Texas and New Mexico. This is where one of the most productive oilfields in the USA is located, producing 4.2 million barrels (approx. 670 million liters) of crude oil per day. Interstate 20 is the most important highway and the fastest connection between the urban centers of San Angelo, Midland, and Odessa. Due to constant heavy traffic, the highway infrastructure has suffered extreme deterioration in recent decades – traffic congestion is a common occurrence and inhibits the region’s economic performance.
Congestion Relief and Regional Connectivity
With the investment of 424 million USD in the rehabilitation of the 6-mile section of highway between Midland and Odessa, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is sending a strong signal in support of infrastructure for the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin. The scheduled construction work includes widening the existing lanes, adding new interchanges, reconfiguring ramps, and the conversion of two-way roads into one-way roads. With the upgrade of the I 20, Texas aims to alleviate traffic congestion and establish better regional connectivity.
Long-Established Collaboration
Pulice Construction was awarded the contract for the slipform paving project. The company, part of the Dragados S.A. group of companies from Madrid, was founded in 1956, has regional offices in Arizona and Texas, and operates primarily in the southwestern US states. The Spanish concern, one of the world’s largest building and civil engineering companies, has already built more than 4,500 miles of highways, 2,200 miles of roads, 1,500 bridges, and 850 miles of tunnels around the globe and is a long-standing partner of the Wirtgen Group. In view of this, Pulice turned to the specialists from Germany to put together the necessary equipment for the project.
“We picked the Wirtgen machines because our parent company uses them a lot overseas,” explains Rod Roglin, Equipment Superintendent at Pulice Construction. The newly purchased machines include a high-performance concrete paving train consisting of a placer/spreader WPS 102i, an inset slipform paver SP 94i, and a texture curing machine TCM 180i. “We feel these are superior machines and have a lot more options and stuff we can use,” says the experienced equipment superintendent.
WPS 102i – High-Performance and Homogeneous Concrete Spreading
The 2-track placer/spreader places and spreads concrete to a width from 12 ft. to 40 ft. with a thickness of 20 in. Its hydraulically telescoping machine frame and modular concrete strike-off unit enable rapid changing of the working width. The WPS 102i is equipped with a smart operating concept that enables the generation of intuitive workflows. The folding belt conveyor makes it easier for concrete mixers to maneuver into place and thus contributes to securing an uninterrupted supply of concrete.
SP 94i – Fully-Modular 32-Foot Class Inset Slipform Paver
The SP 94i stands out due to its enormous versatility in a range of applications on major road construction projects and paving widths from 12 ft. to 32 ft. with thicknesses of up to 18 in. The efficient 4-track slipform paver features concrete equipment developed especially for the North American market. The concrete equipment, consisting of the spreading plow, the paving mold with automatic crown adjustment and edge slump control inserts, hydraulic vibrators, split side plates, and the super smoother, can be adapted for all paving requirements. Interfaces allow the seamless integration of 3D systems into the machine control system and thus enable stringless paving with absolute precision.
Thanks to the modular machine concept, the simple reconfiguration and extendibility, the hydraulic swing legs, and the 90° steering lock, the machine can be quickly adapted to the situation on each construction site. This means that the machine can switch from transport mode to working mode in just a couple of minutes without having to detach the concrete equipment for road paving or the super smoother. The SP 94i can also be equipped with a self-loading dowel bar inserter, a side tie-bar inserter or a central tie-bar inserter. The systems enable machine-integrated insertion of reinforcement during the ongoing paving process.
TCM 180i – Ideal Texture and Protection for concrete surfaces with Widths of up to 59 Feet
The modular machine concept of the TCM 180i enables adaptation to working widths from 13 ft. to 59 ft. The self-propelled texture curing machine produces the desired surface textures on the freshly paved concrete surface. The automated spray system with a high-capacity storage tank protects the concrete surface against premature drying.
Consulting and Training Were Key Success Factors
Even before the construction project began, the experts from Pulice and Wirtgen came together and determined what personnel and machines would be required. All machine operators were familiarized with their new workplaces to ensure optimal results. “Paving at the beginning was kinda hard to learn – like you have to know all the controls and everything,” said Alejandro Guevara, who was the first at the controls of the WPS 102i on the construction site. “But now I feel kinda comfortable driving this machine.” Marcial Loa III added: “It’s pretty exciting to know we have new toys. We’re ready to go ahead and show off what we can do with them.”
Under the eye of Tim Nash, Director of Concrete Products for Wirtgen America since January 2013, the new machines revealed their full potential from the first day on. Nash’s first impression: “On their first run with live concrete you don’t have a lot of margin for error. At the end of today’s work, Pulice will have paved 305 cubic meters of concrete on the first day alone. So far it’s been a really good day.” The paving crews on the site were also impressed by the Wirtgen slipform paving technology. “It’s a learning experience,” says Romero Benavides, concrete finisher at Pulice Construction, and adds: “I mean the next time we go to another job we’ll already know how to use it. Everybody’s got their position, everybody knows what they got to do, so it makes it a lot faster and better.”
The way to a successful future has been mapped out by the Texan Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Chief Engineer of the Odessa District. “Delivering these safety and mobility improvement projects goes a long way to helping to strengthen the industry in this area and helping it to deliver its products to the rest of the world,” says Regional Engineer Eric Lykins, summing up.
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