The winding two-lane blacktop roads of New England can make it hard for a tracked paver to place asphalt at a swift pace. That’s why a Connecticut road contractor believes the 8-ft. (2.4 m) Vögele Vision 5103-2 rubber-tired paver is the top choice for best-practice paving projects on local roads.

“The rubber tires make it easy to move the paver on the roads,” said Domingos Almeida, vice president, Cocchiola Paving, Inc., Oakville, Conn. “We can travel back and forth on the job site without making a mess.”

In addition to the narrow, winding roads, the abundance of small intersections in semi-rural New England make the maneuverability of the 8-ft, rubber-tired Vision 5102-2 ideal for the back-and-forth paving of asphalt intersections. “If you do this with tracks they will lift the asphalt up,” Almeida said. “I’ve tried them before and I don’t like them for what we do.”

After paving one 11-ft. (3.4 m) pass under shady trees to the bottom of a hill, Cocchiola’s operator just put the paver in reverse and swiftly backed up the length of the project for the next pass, driving it as if it were an automobile.

Many of the roads Cocchiola paves by necessity don’t have shoulders, with pavements flanked by dirt or sand drop-offs. Almeida said that the rubber tires give the paver the higher “flotation” it needs to keep from getting bogged down in unconsolidated shoulders or raveled road edges. “In my opinion the rubber tires are way better for maintaining traction,” Almeida said. “Rubber tires are the best.”

In late June, on the milled surface of Barn Hill Road in Monroe Township, Cocchiola was re-establishing crown, placing a 2 in. (5 cm) HMA mix and compacting it to 1.5 to 1.75 in. (3.8 to 4.4 cm), depending on the surface. Intermediate compaction was being accomplished by Cocchiola’s Hamm HD O70V roller in the vibratory mode. The firm also owns a Wirtgen WR 2500 it uses for full-depth reclamation and recycling.

Cocchiola specializes in road and commercial work in western Connecticut. It’s a family owned and operated paving and construction company with more than six decades of experience in state, municipal and private projects. It does not do high-level Interstate-type paving, Almeida said.

“We’re really happy with the machine,” Almeida said. “In fact I want to talk about getting another one next year.”

(This article was reprinted with permission from Wirtgen Technology Magazine, Fall/Winter 2012 Issue.)

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