A paving machine for spreading, leveling and finishing concrete having a main frame, center module, bolsters laterally movably, and a crawler track associated with respective aft and forward ends of the bolsters. A bolster swing leg for each crawler track supports an upright jacking column. A worm gear drive permits rotational movements of the crawler track and the jacking column. A hinge bracket is interposed between each swing leg and a surface of the bolsters to enable pivotal movements of the swing leg. A length-adjustable holder engages the pivot pin on the hinge bracket and pivotally engages the swing leg. The holder permits pivotal motions of the swing leg in its length-adjustable configuration and prevents substantially any motion of the swing leg in its fixed-length configuration. A feedback loop cooperates with transducers keeping the crawler tracks position. The paving machine can be reconfigured into a narrowed transport configuration.

A method for preparing a paving material includes heating an aggregate comprising recycled asphalt pavement using an emitter generating electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength of from 2 microns to 1 millimeter. The method utilizes solid phase autoregenerative cohesion to prepare a material suitable for use as an aggregate in a hot mix asphalt pavement installation.

A system is provided for varying the width of a molded concrete slab on the fly as the slab is being molded. Position and height of the paving machine relative to an external reference system are determined and controlled using at least two 3D stringless reference objects. An additional sensor provides a signal corresponding to a frame width and thus a concrete slab width, and an actuator controls the frame width actively as the paving machine advances.

A paving machine for spreading, leveling and finishing concrete having a main frame, center module, bolsters laterally movably, and a crawler track associated with respective aft and forward ends of the bolsters. A bolster swing leg for each crawler track supports an upright jacking column. A worm gear drive permits rotational movements of the crawler track and the jacking column. A hinge bracket is interposed between each swing leg and a surface of the bolsters to enable pivotal movements of the swing leg. A length-adjustable holder engages the pivot pin on the hinge bracket and pivotally engages the swing leg. The holder permits pivotal motions of the swing leg in its length-adjustable configuration and prevents substantially any motion of the swing leg in its fixed-length configuration. A feedback loop cooperates with transducers keeping the crawler tracks position. The paving machine can be reconfigured into a narrowed transport configuration.

Mobile mixing attachments, skidsteers with mobile mixing attachments, mobile mixing devices and related methods are provided. A mobile mixing attachment for use on a skid-steer can include a rotatable mixing drum having a body that forms an internal cavity and having a forward end and a bottom end. The mixing drum can include a mouth at the forward end of the body that provides access to the internal cavity of the mixing drum. The mobile mixing attachment can include a drum chassis configured to hold and rotate the mixing drum and an attachment plate secured to a rear portion of the drum chassis proximal to the bottom end of the body. The attachment plate configured to engage one or more attachment couplers on lift arms of a skid-steer. The mobile mixing device also comprises a scoop comprising a forward scooping lip and a rear loading end positioned in front of the mouth of the mixing drum. The scoop is secured to the drum chassis.

A method for installing hot asphalt pavement includes heating an aggregate to a temperature of from about 350 F. to about 400 F. using an emitter comprising a birefringent material, the emitter generating electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength of from 2 microns to 1 millimeter, wherein the aggregate is a recycled asphalt pavement; adding the aggregate to an asphalt in a mill to yield a mixture of aggregate with baked-on asphalt; laying the mixture down over a base to form a first layer of lift; and compacting the first layer.

A method and apparatus for filtering point cloud data obtained using a plurality of sensors generates data representative of a surface and for use with a specific type of sensor. The filtering allows certain machines and sensor types to be used to acquire point cloud data and different sensor types to be used during surface construction and modification. The method can be utilized with various types of machine controls and surface construction methods.

A road paver (10) is disclosed. The road paver (10) comprises a screed assembly (18) for laying a mat of paving material, and a tank (52) for storing a coolant. The road paver (10) further comprises a nebulizer device (58) configured to receive the coolant from the tank (52) and to nebulize the coolant into a coolant fog in an environment of the road paver (10). By cooling the environment of the road paver (10), the amount of harmful fumes emitted by hot paving material can be substantially reduced.

A paving machine for spreading, leveling and finishing concrete having a main frame, center module, bolsters laterally movably, and a crawler track associated with respective aft and forward ends of the bolsters. A bolster swing leg for each crawler track supports an upright jacking column. A worm gear drive permits rotational movements of the crawler track and the jacking column. A hinge bracket is interposed between each swing leg and a surface of the bolsters to enable pivotal movements of the swing leg. A length-adjustable holder engages the pivot pin on the hinge bracket and pivotally engages the swing leg. The holder permits pivotal motions of the swing leg in its length-adjustable configuration and prevents substantially any motion of the swing leg in its fixed-length configuration. A feedback loop cooperates with transducers keeping the crawler tracks position. The paving machine can be reconfigured into a narrowed transport configuration.

A road paver comprises a screed assembly for laying a mat of paving material, and a tank for storing a coolant. The road paver further comprises a nebulizer device configured to receive the coolant from the tank and to nebulize the coolant into a coolant fog in an environment of the road paver. By cooling the environment of the road paver, the amount of harmful fumes emitted by hot paving material can be substantially reduced.