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W 210Fi Pair Wins Big on Alabama Race Circuit

Mill It Up staff on the project (L-R) includes Cody Butler, CFO; Kim Butler, president and owner; and Gary Wise, vice president.

Right out of the gate, the first W 210 Fi mills in North America won big as they cold-planed the famous Barber Motorsports Park outside Birmingham, Ala. There, in summer 2019, Mill It Up LLC, Warrior, Ala., — as milling subcontractor for Granite Construction Co. — was using its two brand-new W 210 Fi mills to remove aged asphalt from the race track with 7-ft.,3-in. drums and a HT22 cutting tool holder system with 8 mm spacing from Wirtgen.

According to Wirtgen, the W 210 Fi is the most capable of the new technologically advanced “F series” of large milling machines, which also includes the W 200 Fi and W 207 Fi. They're now available in North America.

Their flexible milling widths range from 4.9 to 8.2 ft. (1.5 to 2.5 m), cut up to depths of 13 in. (33 cm), and handle a wide range of applications, from surface course rehabilitation to complete removal to fine milling. The largest power plant of the series is rated at up to 755 hp (563 kW), depending on the model.

In automatic mode, the Mill Assist operating system see BARBER page 2

Joint Venture Working to Rebuild, Widen Lanes Along I-65 The crews started from the north end for the grading and paving operations.

By Irwin Rapoport CEG CORRESPONDENT

The joint-venture of Dunn Construction Co. Inc. and Wiregrass Construction Company are looking to deliver the Alabama Department of Transportation’s (ALDOT) $68 million widening of four miles of I-65 (south of I-459 from exits 238 to 242) by this July.

The work, occurring in Shelby County near the City of Pelham (20 miles south of Birmingham), began in February 2018 and is also upgrading the existing two lanes in each direction. The widening has two lanes being placed in the grass median and a new lane on either side of the north-south highway.

Planning for the project has been in the works for many years as sections to the north of the project have already been widened to four lanes in each direction. “This is a continuation of that project,” said Gary Smith, ALDOT construction engineer, who noted that widening of the section north of the

one under construction was completed in 2012.

The widening improves safety for motorists who will no longer have to merge into a smaller highway. The new road infrastructure was designed by ALDOT and Stantek Inc. “There were no significant design or engineering challenges,” Smith stated. “We had to widen some bridges, so staged construction for them was a challenge for that aspect.

We had to do some cross-slope correction that was part of the rebuilding of the existing lanes. We had to get traffic off those lanes, stage them over into new lanes in the median and come back and reconstruct the correct cross-slope of the existing lanes. Since we had a place to move traffic, it wasn’t impossible by any means.”

The expected lifespan of the new and upgraded lanes is approximately 20 years before having to resurface the top layers of the roadway again. The new lanes have a 12-in. base and a 17-in. asphalt buildup.

There were few utility issues to tackle. Crews had a few see I-65 page 10

Page 2 • May 20, 2020 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

Mill It Up Uses Wirtgen to Re-Pave Barber Motorsports Park

Mill It Up is using its W 210 Fi mills to remove aged asphalt from the race track with 7-ft., 3-in. drums and a HT22 cutting tool holder system with 8 mm spacing from Wirtgen.

BARBER from page 1

always selects the most favorable ratio between milling performance and operating costs. The machine responds intelligently and dynamically to changing conditions.

This makes the operator's job a great deal easier, while vastly improving machine performance and reducing diesel, water and tool consumption, as well as carbon dioxide and noise emissions, according to the manufacturer.

With the optional Multiple Cutting System (MCS) — available on the W 207 Fi and W 210 Fi — milling drums of the same milling width but with different tool spacing can now be swapped out, without using any additional tools, in just 15 minutes or less.

W 210 Fi Mills in Echelon The Barber Motorsports Park is an 880acre, multi-purpose racing facility located just east of Birmingham, Ala. The park,

which opened in 2003, has a 17-turn, 2.38mile (3.83-km) road course, viewable from several naturally wooded or grass-covered banks. The track is designed to be run clockwise. The layout is compact, with a number of elevation changes.

In preparation for racing in fall 2019, the owners planned to remove the existing asphalt and replace with a new course.

For this work, Mill It Up removed 45,683 sq. yds. of track to a depth of 4 in., and where required, cut an additional 17,253 sq. yds. of hot mix asphalt lift and aggregate base, to a depth of 7 in.

Some 6,000 sq. yds. of pit-in, pit road and pit-out pavement was milled to a depth of 1.5 in. Lastly, 2,239 sq. yds. of existing asphalt in the crossovers were cut to a depth of 0.5 in.

The new mills operated from dawn to dusk in advance of paving with virgin HMA, with specifications and quality assurance by

Advanced Materials Services LLC, Auburn, Ala. Usually the mills were spaced out at varying lengths, but on the main straightaway milled in echelon, one after the other.

In September, following the Championship of Alabama motorcycle race, the newly resurfaced track with its “billiardtable smooth surface” was the main talking point of the racers, according to one report.

“It’s so smooth, it’s like butter and I really didn’t know how much grip I had,” said competitor Cameron Beaubier, according to a report from race organizer MotoAmerica.

“It’s pretty amazing, going around the track without crossing any seams. I think they did a really good job.”

A smooth overlay is only as good as the milled surface underneath, and the high-performance W 210 Fi mills made it possible.

When combined with the Mill Assist function, the new Level Pro Active leveling system provides powerful new automated

functions, as it's fully integrated into mill control. Key machine functions are directly linked with one another and precise milling results have been pre-programmed.

Level Pro Active also features many automatic and added features. This new leveling system also provides active and precise support when the machine is positioned at the start of a second milling track, greatly improving the quality of milled surfaces.

The new F series also has features such as active lift. This allows for the raising of the machine to pass over a manhole cover speeds up production.

Fast Drum Change Mill It Up is impressed with the W 210 Fi's Multiple Cutting System, available exclusively from Wirtgen, which enables replacement of application-specific drums in see BARBER page 4

Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • May 20, 2020 • Page 3

Atlanta, GA 404.469.7210 Birmingham, AL 205.841.6666 Madison, AL 256.350.0006 Mobile, AL 251.633.4020 Montgomery, AL 334.262.6642 Oxford, AL 256.832.5053 Tuscaloosa, AL 205.848.4147 Pensacola, FL 850.479.3004

Page 4 • May 20, 2020 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

W 210Fi Allows Operators to Change Drums in Minutes BARBER from page 2

a matter of minutes, saving time and money.

“It's awesome,” said Kim Butler, president of Mill It Up. “We can change drums in eight minutes, and that amazes me. Some people take two hours to change a drum, and we had it down to where we could change one in an hour. Now it takes even less.”

Now, Mill It Up can swap its conventional 8 mm spacing drum with a micro drum with 298 teeth with 15 mm spacing quickly and efficiently.

“We have nine 15 mm drums of different sizes used among 13 machines,” Butler said.

“We're pretty good at it because we are swapping them in and out all the time. We might be on an 8 mm job, and when that job finishes, and he's going on a micro job, we will swap drums on the same day. And then the next day it's on another job doing 8 mm milling.”

The broader swing of the loading conveyor — a full 65 degrees to either left or right is another plus.

“That's really good for loading trucks in tight spaces,” Butler said.

She also appreciates that her two Tier 4f W 210 Fi mills don't require DEF additive.

And access to internal components like filter banks and pulleys is very easy for mechanics.

“Our guys love it, they're blown away,” she said.

The firm also has a W 120 CFi midsize mill with 4 ft. drum.

“We just acquired it for small parking lots that we do for our customers. It's more versatile for getting in and out of work areas,” Butler said.

In addition, the company has 10 W 200i mills, and now the two W 210 Fi cold mills.

From Paving to Milling “Mill It Up started in June of 2009,” Butler stated. “I was in the paving business but was bought out of the paving business by my late husband. At that time, I started the milling business. Milling was something that I was just learning about, but I knew that if I can pave, I can mill. Most of my employees already had worked for paving contractors, so we had the experience.”

It came at a good time, as that's when asphalt milling ramped up from coast-tocoast.

“That was when milling was really taking off across the country, and as there were not a lot of milling contractors here, Mill It Up was started,” Butler said. “Ten years later we've bought 17 mills and sold four, so now see BARBER page 8

When combined with the Mill Assist function, the new Level Pro Active leveling system provides powerful new automated functions, as it's fully integrated into mill control

Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., being cold-planed by two brand-new W 210 Fi mills from Mill It Up LLC.

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Users Love Wirtgen Milling Machine’s Flexibility, Technology BARBER from page 4

we are working 13 mills with 10 to 11 crews.” Mill It Up does most of its own servicing.

“We've grown quite a bit since then,” she said. “We do all of our service inside, with four mechanics and three big service trucks, so that if a mill breaks down, we can go straight to the job same day for the repair. If you have down time with your customers, the customer's not going to be happy. That's been a big part of our success too, being able to be on time, so we can be where the customers need us, and ensure the quality of our work.”

While Mill It Up can get replacement parts next day from Wirtgen America in Tennessee, the firm keeps a large line of parts in stock to minimize downtime and optimize productivity.

“Our shop has everything in stock; all wear parts, skis, cutting bits.”

Not only does Mill It Up do most of its field servicing, it undertakes preventive maintenance throughout the season, and overhauls the mills as needed during winter as work slows.

“We go through and pretty much overhaul all the machines in the wintertime, so we're ready for the next milling season. If they need new belts, or the belt has a hole, we replace the upper or lower belts. We look at the skis and the tracks. If they're Some 6,000 sq. yds. of pit-in, pit road and pit-out pavement was milled to a depth of 1.5 worn, we replace the tracks. We go in. at Barber Motorsports Park. through the whole machine, and whatever

According to Wirtgen, the W 210 Fi is the most capable of the new technologically advanced “F series” of large milling machines.

needs to be replaced to get ready for the next milling season gets replaced. That way when we get started, we should have minimal breakdowns, unless it's something unforeseen.”

All that is possible because Mill It Up sends its technicians to Wirtgen Group training classes in the off-season at the Wirtgen Center for Training and Technology (CTT) on the Nashville headquarters campus.

“My mechanics go to the training classes and we anticipate the first classes for the W 210 Fi mills,” Butler said. “It's absolutely a good value, and during the winter we also will have a trainer come to our shop and teach our technicians, operators and foremen. He walks through every element of the cold mills to make sure they understand everything and ask questions.”

The acquisition of the W 210 F mills came as Mill It Up was seeking newer machines with advanced capabilities. “I was looking at competitive mills, but when I learned about the F-series I was blown away by the technology of these new machines,” Butler explained.

Tractor & Equipment Co. in Birmingham is Mill It Up's equipment distributor.

“They're a great dealer,” Butler said.

“I've been dealing with them since I was in the paving business and I know them well.”  CEG

Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • May 20, 2020 • Page 9

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Page 10 • May 20, 2020 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

Dunn-Wiregrass JV Looks to Deliver I-65 Project by July

The Bridge Builders of Alabama LLC utilized four cranes, an excavator, a track drill, a front-end loader, a dozer and a backhoe during construction.

I-65 from page 1

utilities to move due to relocated traffic signals and their foundations having to accommodate new ramp widening.

Soil issues generated more problems.

“We had a couple of slides due to heavy rains and we had to mitigate those areas, usually by building a rock buttress to steady those backslopes,” Smith said. “We were concerned early on, and we did a lot to prevent any sediment from leaving the project. We had to be very innovative in our erosion control design and implementation.”

The ability to deal with the soil issues successfully speaks of the solid relations between ALDOT and the JV. “We deal mainly with Dunn Construction,” said Smith,

The JV crew of Dunn Construction Co. Inc. and Wiregrass Construction Company works to stabilize backslopes near Basin 7 along I-65.

who pointed out that Dunn’s Michael Estell is the project manager for the entire project and ALDOT’s primary contact. “Estell has been very responsive and helpful,” Smith said.

The JV is based on Dunn being responsible for the southbound side and Wiregrass for the northbound side.

“The JV is being very responsive to problems as they arise,” Smith said. “They have a plan to not only divide the work, but how to supplement one another if it becomes necessary.”

Throughout the construction, the JV has had sufficient space to store materials and set up laydown yards and field offices. ALDOT ensured access for vehicles delivering con-

The mainline bridges, each 485 ft. long, were widened from two to four lanes in each direction and the US 31 bridge (448 ft. long) had one additional lane added.

struction materials and those removing the debris from excavation operations.

When work resumed in late April, speed limits in the construction zone were reduced and the police presence returned. Crews first constructed the lanes in the median before starting on the lanes along the outer edges.

Lane widening is now complete. For the median lanes, workers built up the area to match the level of the existing lanes through the upper binder layers. This involved cutting the median and paved shoulder down to the subbase and building up with the required materials to the planned elevation. Construction of the new outside lanes followed the same procedure.

Maintaining traffic safely throughout the work zone throughout the multiple phases of construction was the greatest challenge, according to Smith. Construction vehicles, including material delivery trucks, were routinely entering and exiting the median adjacent to live traffic and did so in a safe and efficient manner.

The bridge work, also completed, dealt with two mainline interstate bridges and one bridge on US 31 over I-65. The mainline bridges, each 485 ft. long, were widened from two to four lanes in each direction and the US 31 bridge (448 ft. long) had one additional lane added.

“The mainline bridges were completed in multiple phases between March 2018 and August 2019, simultaneously with the mainline interstate work while the US 31 bridge was completed several weeks ago,” Smith stated. “Interstate 65 bridges also spanned railway lines operated by CSX. It was a challenge to coordinate the work with the railroad.”

For the mainline bridge widening, the lanes were widened on the left and rights sides of the existing bridges.

“They basically moved traffic over to the right side and gave everybody a reduced shoulder,” Smith stated. “The construction crews worked behind a temporary concrete barrier wall.”

Once the inner widening was finished, traffic was shifted so that widening could be completed on the outer side. Work today is now focusing on the overlaying of the old asphalt on the existing lanes and placing a wearing surface, followed by a graded surface.

“The leveling helps with the cross-slope correction of the see I-65 page 11

Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • May 20, 2020 • Page 11

Lane Widening Segmentof ALDOT’s I-65 Project Complete ALDOT’s $68M project to rebuild and widen lanes along Interstate 65 is under way currently in Shelby County near the city of Pelham.

Materials placed include 315,000 tons of asphalt; 10,650 tons of concrete; 550 tons of rebar; and 255,000 cu. yds. of earth and rock moved.

I-65 from page 10

existing lanes,” Smith explained. “The crews started from the north end for the grading and paving operations. They are paving and overlaying the excavation rapidly to minimize erosion and sediment losses.”

This element has three main crews following each other — excavation, base and paving.

Peak days had 60-70 JV and subcontractor employees on-site, with the subcontractors including: Chilton Contractors Inc. for grading, crushed aggregate base and drainage; The Bridge Builders of Alabama for bridge substructure and superstructure widening; Championship Enterprises for erosion control and permanent vegetation establishment; Abramson for atgrade culvert widening, concrete median barrier, drainage and retaining walls; Stone & Sons Electrical Contractors for roadway lighting and signal installation; and Contact Network for ITS items.

Materials placed include 315,000 tons of asphalt; 10,650 tons of concrete; 550 tons of rebar; and 255,000 cu. yds. of earth and rock moved.

“Bituminous materials were recycled at the asphalt plants and incorporated into the mixes delivered to the project,” Smith said. “Recycling is an important part of ALDOT’s mission to provide a safe, efficient, environmentally sound transportation system for all users.”

Equipment-wise, Dunn and Wiregrass utilized three to four pavers, six steel drum vibratory rollers, backhoes, skid-steer loaders, two material remixing devices, two milling machines and two distributer trucks. Chilton Contractors utilized four excavators, two front-end loaders, three dozers, two backhoes and three motor graders. The Bridge Builders of Alabama LLC utilized four cranes, an excavator, a track drill, a front-end loader, a dozer and a backhoe during construction.

Many of the other subcontractors utilized excavators, cranes, drill rigs, skid-steer loaders, mini-excavators, ram-hoes and other miscellaneous equipment to complete their work. The equipment included Komatsu and Link-Belt models.

“What we learned from previous projects made this one go much smoother,” Smith contended. “From an erosion control standpoint, we had a lot of methods that were proven on other interstates with grass medians. It worked well.”

An incentive of $50,000 per-day, for a maximum of $2 million, was offered to the JV to have six lanes open to traffic by December 20, 2019.

“That’s why the JV was formed,” Smith explained.

“The lanes were opened in early November.

Everything is on schedule and we plan for all eight lanes to be open by mid-July.”

Tyler Murphree, ALDOT’s Project Manager, has been on-site since day one.

“The contractor and subs have all worked very well together,” Murphy said. “Communication and weekly on-site meetings with subcontractors have been key in completing this project before the incentive deadline and with minimal issues. Coordination between the contractors and the assembly line type of construction for the median widening showed how quick and efficient this type of work could be completed.”  CEG

Page 12 • May 20, 2020 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Alabama State Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide

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