The recent World of Concrete tradeshow in Orlando, Florida, which drew over 30,000 visitors, featured a number of outdoor "mega" demonstrations that provided attendees with an up-close "live-action" view of actual jobsite activities. These demos were a "first" for the popular show and according to the show organizers the events were extremely popular and will become a regular feature in future shows.

In particular, a demonstration of innovative new equipment that enables mechanized installation of interlocking concrete pavers (ICPs) drew an interested crowd of over 700. The demonstration, which was organized and presented by PAVE TECH, INC. of Prior Lake, Minnesota, involved mechanized installation of ICPs over a compacted base using specialized machines developed in Germany. These machines enable cost-effective installation for large-scale commercial or industrial applications.

The concept of mechanized installation of ICPs for large areas of pavement such as sports stadiums, plazas and streetscapes as well as heavy-duty applications such as shipping ports, truck terminals, and airports is relatively new. However in Germany, where the installation of ICPs is more than 10 times that of North America, the development of special machines that can place a 1.2 square yard layer of heavy duty pavers at a time, has drastically altered the cost of installation for large-scale commercial projects.

In Europe ICPs have been widely used for industrial applications for over 30 years with noteworthy success. The port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, for example, which is one of the largest in the world, contains 2 million square yards of ICPs.

Steve Jones, President of PAVE TECH, reports that mechanized paver machines have been successfully used in numerous projects. According to Jones, "The machines can significantly reduce labor and installation costs and are extremely efficient on-site. These machines are actually very powerful all-terrain vehicles. They are also extremely maneuverable and versatile. The contractors we have sold units to have used them for a tremendous variety of applications including large-scale residential, as well as, commercial/industrial installations such as airports and seaports."

Observers at the demonstration had an opportunity to get an up-close view of the machine's operational controls and features.

The manufacturer also supplies contractors with vacuum lifting machines that enable placement of heavy curbstones, slabs, and pipes weighing up to 3,000 lbs. "These machines," according to Jones, "also enable placement with a higher degree of safety and without disturbing the base materials. Mechanized equipment also allows precise placement of pavers and ensures consistent and accurate joint spacing between paving units."

For manual installation, the average output for a five person crew will typically average 120 square yards per 8 hour day, or 25 square yards per person, per day (2.7-3.3 square yards/person/hour). The output for mechanized installation can achieve between 500-700 yards for each machine per eight-hour day.

There are numerous examples of large-scale projects that have used mechanized pavement installation. Mechanized installation has been successfully utilized at the European Container Terminus in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as well as port facilities in Tampa, Florida (11 acres); Port of New Orleans - Nashville Avenue Terminal (3 acres); Port of Oakland, California (under construction - 46 acres).

The Port of Oakland will eventually be the site of the largest installation of concrete pavers in North America. The expansion will modernize the port facility and add two new berths, new roads and container yards.

Observers at the demonstration had an opportunity to get an up-close view of the machine's operational controls and features.

Engineers are frequently specifying interlocking concrete pavers. Mechanized installations have been successfully accomplished for airports in Dallas, Texas, Cayman Island International Airport, The Port of Freeport, Bahamas and Hong Kong International Airport.

Paver installation machines are also being employed for municipal applications such as paving of streets and sidewalks and have been used for parking lots and roof decks. City streets have been paved with ICPs using mechanized equipment in Cincinnati and Dayton Ohio; Northbrook, Illinois and Naples, Florida.

In North America the choice of ICPs for municipal and commercial applications is increasing rapidly as a result of the superior performance, ease of transportation to the site, cost-competitiveness, low maintenance, ease of repairs, and the success of mechanized installation.

In response to the trend towards mechanized installation several producers of ICPs are designing, manufacturing and packaging products specifically to enable rapid, cost-effective mechanized placement.

Obviously the ability to install pavers using mechanized equipment has significant cost and design implications for large-scale heavy-duty installations and will become more and more common in the future. LASN

Splitting machines, such as the one shown here, cut pavers quickly with less dust and noise.