Shelly and Sands, based out of Zanesville, Ohio, recently finished a concrete overlay project on U.S. Rte. 250 through Harrison County, east of Tappan Lake in Ohio. They used their Gomaco four-track Commander III with a new independent IDBI attachment to slipform the new 8-in. concrete overlay. They slipformed approximately 55,000 sq yd of concrete on the new Rte. 250, overlaying two 12-ft driving lanes and two 8-ft shoulders. Paving passes with the Commander III were 12 ft wide. The self-contained, self-powered independent IDBI attachment was placing 18-in.-long and 1.5-in.-diam. dowel bars on the go, 12 in. apart, across the width of the 8-in.-thick concrete slab.
The concrete paver and attachment are the perfect solutions for the on-the-go placement of transverse joint bars in narrower-width pavements. Contractors can remove the attachment and pave other applications with the concrete paver. It is a simple process to remove the attachment. Outriggers on the attachment can be hydraulically lowered and placed on the ground to support the full weight of the IDBI as it is attached or detached. The IDBI is unbolted from the concrete paver, the cables connecting the IDBI controls to the paver’s controller are disconnected and then it is just a matter of driving the Commander III away from the attachment. A semitrailer can be brought in and backed underneath the attachment, as it sits on its outriggers, for easy loading/unloading and transport to the next jobsite. With the attachment removed, Shelly and Sands can pave widths up to 20 ft without placing transverse bars with their Gomaco four-track Commander III. Its versatility does not stop with flat paving. The company also can use its Commander III to slipform safety barrier on projects.
Then, when Shelly and Sands needs to return to paving with the IDBI, it is a simple matter of backing up the concrete paver to the IDBI attachment, bolting it on, reconnecting the cables between the two controllers, and once again the company has a synchronized paving system.
“The [combination of the concrete paver and attachment] works great for us,” Brian Little, project superintendent for Shelly and Sands, said. “It just gives us so much versatility in paving the narrower widths. Being able to switch between 12-ft and 16-ft paving widths is really a great asset for us.”
