Rock Hopper For Placer/Spreaders

 

Full-Width Aggregate Spreading For Base Preparation

Contractors have struggled with the question of how do you place and spread aggregate for base preparation at full width?

GOMACO has given them an answer with the new rock hopper that can be mounted on any GOMACO placer/spreader.

The new rock hopper can be used in tandem with the RTP-500 rubber-tracked placer. End-dump trucks can quickly discharge the aggregate into the RTP-500, which in turn loads the new hopper on the placer/spreader.

 

 

 

In Response To Customer Demand

A GOMACO customer needed a way to place rock base for 123,191 square yards (103,000 m²) on top of a geotextile separator. The base needed to be four inches (100 mm) thick, and have a crown and superelevations built into it. After partnering with GOMACO's research and development team, a new rock hopper which could be mounted to any GOMACO placer/spreader was born.

An RTP-500 was used to feed the rock from dump trucks into the rock hopper on a PS-2600 placer/spreader. Workers followed the RTP-500 with rolls of geotextile separator, rolling it out on the grade. The PS-2600 placed the rock on top of the separator at the proper thickness. A double-drum roller followed behind and made three passes across the grade. A GOMACO GP-2600 slipform paver was then brought in to pave the 25.6 foot (7.8 m) passes.

The PS-2600 ran off the same stringline the paver did. It had a strike-off on the back of the hopper and the rock hopper worked as a funnel, laying the rock to grade. The PS-2600 had a PTA (power transition adjuster) in the middle for the crown and the transitions into the superelevations.

After the material placement, the PS-2600 can be converted back to a traditional placer/spreader by removing the rock hopper and attaching the concrete strike-off and belt.