Capital Equipment News February 2017

Loge Construction has taken delivery of the first Leeboy-Ticel CF120 mobile asphalt plant in South Africa.

BRIDGING THE ASPHALT PRODUCTION GAP Associated Asphalt Equipment has commissioned the first Leeboy-Ticel mobile asphalt plant in South Africa. The plant will bridge the asphalt supply gap in Steelpoort, Limpopo, where road contractors previously had to source asphalt from a static commercial plant located some 160 km away, writes Munesu Shoko .

these problems are now being addressed and will hopefully also provide the local municipality and other project owners with the means to undertake much needed maintenance and rehabilitation projects in the area. Reyan Fortune, Technical Advisor at AAE, says setting up and commissioning of the first LeeBoy-Ticel asphalt plant in South Africa has been an exciting time. He argues that the plant’s simplicity and practical design definitely sets a new standard, and this was a key factor in AAE’s decision to distribute this range locally. Fortune is also certain that the plant will be of immense benefit to local customers. Fortune has noted what he terms “rapid changes” in the asphalt industry in South Africa over the past six years, and believes migration towards mobile asphalt plants was inevitable. Already, AAE reports increased enquiries for its LeeBoy-Ticel mobile asphalt plants, and following the commissioning of the first unit, envisages two additional units being delivered into the region within the first half of this year. Key benefits The introduction of hypermobile units provides both contractors and their road project owners with the flexibility to

A ssociated Asphalt Equipment (AAE), a South African supplier of asphalt equipment, bitumen handling and earthmoving equipment in sub-Saharan Africa, has delivered and commissioned the first Leeboy-Ticel CF120 mobile asphalt plant in South Africa. Supplied to a road contractor, Loge Construction, in Steelpoort, Limpopo, the plant will service the contractor’s asphalt needs, as well as other road contractors working in Steelpoort and surrounding areas within a radius of 80 km, such as Burgersfort. According to Zaahid Sader, General Manager at AAE, Loge Construction and several other contractors in the area previously had to source asphalt to service their road contracts from commercial suppliers in Polokwane, some 160 km away. This had a significant impact on costs and would very quickly erode the available budgets to undertake road maintenance

and rehabilitation projects. It is a known fact that hauling asphalt over such long distances is detrimental to the hot asphalt due to the contribution to short-term aging. This is compounded by the fact that when the asphalt arrives on site ready to be used, the temperature would have dropped to the lower part of the compaction envelope and in some instances will be well below that and very cold. These factors all contribute to premature failure of the asphalt on the roads. With the new Leeboy-Ticel mobile asphalt plant set up in the Steelpoort area,

“The introduction of hypermobile units provides both contractors and their road project owners with the flexibility to use hot mix asphalt in their upgrade and rehabilitation projects that are located a long way from static commercial plants. ”

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS FEBRUARY 2017 4