Racetracks offer paving rehabilitation contractors some of the most demanding and challenging operations in the paving industry. Racetrack smoothness and mat quality are of the highest concern, because together they add up to safer, faster tracks. There's a saying in the industry: "A smooth milling job equals a smooth ride." Any irregularities in the milled surface are picked up and often magnified by the paving process, resulting in a rough ride.
A Cat PM-200 was recently put through its paces on one such demanding racetrack project in Italy. Quality and consistency were first on the minds of crewmembers for Italian contractor Betonvilla SpA when they accepted the challenge of milling a segment of the legendary Monza National Racetrack near Milan late last year.
The PM-200 milled a 3,280-yd portion of the Monza circuit to a precise depth of 1.6 in. and a width of 18 ft. The total area of milled material for the project came to 177,600 sq ft, which created 1,750 tons of milled material.
Betonvilla, an industry leader since 1962, provides contracting services for a variety of public and private infrastructure projects, including road building projects like the Monza milling project, as well as highways, viaducts, basins, bridges and galleries. They also manage mining operations to provide materials to support their production and sale of concrete and bituminous products.
Sections of Monza's circuit had developed cracks as a result of water penetration and required milling and resurfacing.
The Betonvilla crew found the existing asphalt base to be extremely tough and well compacted. The rigorous conditions required maximum milling performance and put the PM-200 to the test.
The machine milled continuously for eight hours the first day and completed the project in four additional hours the following day.
