A road roller (sometimes called a roller-compactor, or just roller) is a
compactor
A compactor is a machine or mechanism used to reduce the size of material such as waste material or bio mass through compaction. A trash compactor is often used by a home or business to reduce the volume of trash it produces. A baler-wrapper comp ...
-type
engineering vehicle
Heavy equipment or heavy machinery refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. ''Heavy equipment'' usually comprises five e ...
used to
compact soil,
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
,
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
, or
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
in the
construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
of
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
s and
foundations
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
. Similar rollers are used also at landfills or in agriculture.
Road rollers are frequently referred to as
steamrollers, regardless of their method of propulsion.
History
The first road rollers were
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
-drawn, and were probably borrowed farm implements'' (see
Roller)''.
Since the effectiveness of a roller depends to a large extent on its weight, self-powered vehicles replaced horse-drawn rollers from the mid-19th century. The first such vehicles were
steam roller
A steamroller (or steam roller) is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for leveling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine. The leveling/flattening action is achieved through ...
s. Single-cylinder steam rollers were generally used for base compaction and run with high engine revs with
low gear
A gear train is a mechanical system formed by mounting gears on a frame so the teeth of the gears engage.
Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, providing a smooth transmission ...
ing to promote bounce and vibration from the crankshaft through to the rolls in much the same way as a vibrating roller. The double cylinder or compound steam rollers became popular from around 1910 onwards and were used mainly for the rolling of hot-laid surfaces due to their smoother running engines, but both cylinder types are capable of rolling the finished surface. Steam rollers were often dedicated to a task by their gearing as the slower engines were for base compaction whereas the higher geared models were often referred to as "chip chasers" which followed the hot tar and chip laying machines. Some road companies in the US used steamrollers through the 1950s. In the UK some remained in service until the early 1970s.
As internal combustion engines improved during the 20th century,
kerosene
Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
-,
gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...
- (petrol), and
diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
-powered rollers gradually replaced their
steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
-powered counterparts. The first internal-combustion powered road rollers were similar to the steam rollers they replaced. They used similar mechanisms to transmit power from the engine to the wheels, typically large, exposed spur gears. Some users disliked them in their infancy, as the engines of the era were typically difficult to start, particularly the kerosene-powered ones.
Virtually all road rollers in use today use diesel power.
Uses on a road
Road rollers use the weight of the vehicle to compress the surface being rolled (static) or use mechanical advantage (vibrating). Initial
compaction of the substrate on a road project is done using a padfoot or "sheep's foot" drum roller, which achieves higher compaction density due to the pads having less surface area. On large freeways, a four-wheel compactor with padfoot drum and a blade, such as a Caterpillar 815/825 series machine, would be used due to its high weight, speed, and the powerful pushing force to spread bulk material. On regional roads, a smaller single padfoot drum machine may be used.
The next machine is usually a single smooth drum compactor that compacts the high spots down until the soil is smooth. This is usually done in combination with a motor grader to obtain a level surface. Sometimes at this stage a pneumatic tyre roller is used. These rollers feature two rows (front and back) of pneumatic tyres that overlap, and the flexibility of the tyres provides a kneading action that seals the surface and with some vertical movement of the wheels, enables the roller to operate effectively on uneven ground. Once the soil base is flat the pad drum compactor is no longer used on the road surface.
The next course (road base) is compacted using a smooth single drum, smooth tandem roller, or pneumatic tyre roller in combination with a grader and a water truck to achieve the desired flat surface with the correct moisture content for optimum compaction. Once the road base is compacted, the smooth single drum compactor is no longer used on the road surface (there is an exception if the single drum has special flat-wide-base tyres on the machine).
The final wear course of
asphalt concrete
Asphalt concrete (commonly called asphalt, blacktop, or pavement in North America, and tarmac, bitumen macadam, or rolled asphalt in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parkin ...
(known as asphalt or blacktop in North America, or macadam in England) is laid using a paver and compacted using a tandem smooth drum roller, a three-point roller or a pneumatic tyre roller. Three point rollers on asphalt were once common and are still used, but tandem vibrating rollers are the usual choice now. The pneumatic tyre roller's kneading action is the final roller to seal the surface.
Rollers are also used in
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
compaction. Such compactors typically have padfoot drums, and do not achieve a smooth surface. The pads aid in compression, due to the smaller area contacting the ground.
Configurations
![Rollers compact the asphalt layer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Rollers_compact_the_asphalt_layer._Buryatia%2C_Russia.jpg)
The roller can be a simple drum with a handle that is operated by one person and weighs or as large as a ride-on road roller weighing and costing more than
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
150,000. A landfill unit may weigh .
Roller types
Pedestrian-operated
* Rammer (bounce up and down)
* Walk-behind plate compactor/light
* Trench roller (manual unit or radio-frequency remote control)
* Walk-behind roller/light (single drum)
* Walk-behind roller/heavy (double drum)
Ride-on smooth finish
* Tandem drum (static)
* Tandem drum (vibrating)
* Single drum roller (smooth)
* Pneumatic-tyred Roller, called rubber tyre or multi-wheel
* Combination roller (single row of tyres and a steel drum)
* Three point roller (steam rollers are usually three-point)
Ride-on soil/landfill compactor with pads/feet/spikes
* Single drum roller (soil)
* 4-wheel (soil/landfill)
* 3-point (soil/landfill)
* Tandem drum (soil/landfill)
Other
* Tractor-mounted and tractor-powered ''(conversion – see gallery picture below)''
* Drawn rollers or towed rollers (once common, now rare)
* Impact compactor (uses a square or polygon drum to strike the ground hard for proof rolling or deep lift compacting)
* Drum roller with rubber coated drum for asphalt compaction
* Log skidder converted to compactor for landfill
* Wheel loader converted to compactor for landfill
Drum types
Drums are available in widths ranging from .
Tyre roller types
Tyre rollers are available in widths ranging up to , with between 7 and 11 wheels (e.g. 3 wheels at front, 4 at back): 7 and 8 wheel types are normally used in Europe and Africa; 9 and 11 in America; and any type in Asia. Very heavy tyre rollers are used to compact soil.
Variations and features
* On some machines, the drums may be filled with water on site to achieve the desired weight. When empty, the lighter machine is easier and cheaper to transport between work sites. On pneumatic tyre rollers the body may be ballasted with water or sand, or for extra compaction wet sand is used. Modern tyre rollers may be filled with steel ballast, which gives a more even balance for better compaction.
* Additional compaction may be achieved by
vibrating
Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...
the roller drums, allowing a small, light machine to perform as well as a much heavier one. Vibration is typically produced by a free-spinning hydrostatic motor inside the drum to whose shaft an eccentric weight has been attached. Some rollers have a second weight that can be rotated relative to the main weight, to adjust the vibration amplitude and thus the compacting force.
* Water lubrication may be provided to the drum surface from on-board "sprinkler tanks" to prevent hot asphalt sticking to the drum.
* Hydraulic transmissions permit greater design flexibility. While early examples used direct mechanical drives, hydraulics reduce the number of moving parts exposed to contamination and allows the drum to be driven, providing extra traction on inclines.
* Human-propelled rollers may only have a single roller drum.
* Self-propelled rollers may have two drums, mounted one in front of the other (format known as "duplex"), or three rolls, or just one, with the back rollers replaced with treaded pneumatic tyres for increased traction.
Gallery
Image:Road roller powered walk-behind 03.jpg, Powered, vibrating walk-behind
Image:Road_roller_ride-on_articulating-swivel_small_01.jpg, Ride-on with articulating-swivel (small machine)
Image:Road roller ride-on articulating-swivel large 02.jpg, Ride-on with articulating-swivel (large machine)
File:Châtignac 16 Travaux LGV Compacteur 2013.jpg, Ride-on with articulating-swivel, Bomag BW 219 DH WR 2500
Image:Dynapac CC232.JPG, Vibrating Dynapac CC232
Image:Caterpillar CS-533E.jpg , A Caterpillar CS-533E
Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer.
In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...
vibratory roller.
Image:Pneumatic road roller Hamm AG GRW 18 01.jpg, Pneumatic roller
Image:Tractor-powered Roadroller.jpg, A road-roller powered by a tractor mounted on it
Manufacturers
*
ABG (Germany) — SD/TD (purchased by
Ingersoll Rand
Ingersoll Rand is an American multinational company that provides flow creation and industrial products. The company was formed in February 2020 through the spinoff of the industrial segment of Ingersoll-Randplc (now known as Trane Technologies) ...
and now part of
Volvo CE)
* Albaret (France) — PT/TD (now part of
Caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
)
*
Ammann Group
Ammann Group Holding AG is a Swiss mechanical engineering company specialised on machines for the building industry and road construction.
As of 2012, the company employs a workforce of about 3,400. It is incorporated in Bern, but its offices ...
(Switzerland) —
*
Aveling-Barford
Aveling-Barford was a large engineering company making road rollers, motorgraders, front loaders, site dumpers, dump trucks and articulated dump trucks in Grantham, England. In its time, it was an internationally known company.
History Rus ...
(England) — TD/PT/3P
*
BOMAG
''Bopparder Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft mbH'', better known by the acronym BOMAG, is a German company and a global market leader in compaction technology and manufactures soil, asphalt and refuse compaction equipment, as well as stabilizers and rec ...
(Germany) — SD/TD/PT (
BOMAG
''Bopparder Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft mbH'', better known by the acronym BOMAG, is a German company and a global market leader in compaction technology and manufactures soil, asphalt and refuse compaction equipment, as well as stabilizers and rec ...
/
HYPAC in the USA market)
*
Case CE
Case Construction Equipment (stylized as CASE Construction Equipment, commonly referred to as simply Case) is an American manufacturer of construction machinery. Along with CASE IH, Case Construction Equipment is a brand of CNH. Case produces con ...
(USA) — SD (brands the
Ammann Ammann is a surname of German origin which is an alternative spelling of Amtmann or Amman, an historical kind of bailiff. Notable people with the surname include:
*Alberto Ammann, Argentine actor
* Daniel Ammann, Swiss author and journalist (born 1 ...
/Sta machines as Case in the USA)
*
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer.
In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...
(USA) — SD/TD/PT (has the former lines of RAYGO, BROS and Bitelli)
*
Dynapac
Dynapac is a Swedish multinational engineering company located in Karlskrona. The company was founded in 1934 and today has subsidiaries in seven countries. Dynapac produces pavers, mobile feeders, rollers and planers. Since October 2017 it is par ...
(Sweden) — SD/TD/PT/3P
*
Galion
Galion is a city in Crawford, Morrow, and Richland counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 10,453 at the 2020 census. Galion is the second-largest city in Crawford County after Bucyrus.
The Crawford County portion of Galion is ...
(USA) —
*
Hamm AG
Hamm AG is a German worldwide manufacturer and marketer of road rollers based in Tirschenreuth, Germany. It is a subsidiary of Wirtgen Group.
Brothers Anton and Franz Hamm, who were gunsmiths, founded the company in 1878 to build agricultural ...
(Germany) — SD/TD/PT/3P (now part of the
Wirtgen Group
Wirtgen Group is an internationally operating German company in the construction industry. The company's core business is the development and production of machinery for road construction and maintenance.
Wirtgen Group employs around 8,500 people ...
)
*
HEPCO (Iran) — SD/TD/PT/3P
*
Hitachi
() is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...
(Japan) — SD/TD/PT/3P
*
Huber Company, (USA) —
*
Hyster
Hyster is an American manufacturing company specializing in forklifts and other materials-handling equipment. Hyster was founded in 1929 as the Willamette-Ersted Company in Portland, Oregon. The company was purchased in 1989 by NACCO Industrie ...
(USA) — SD/TD/PT (part of
HYPAC and
Bomag USA)
*
Ingersoll Rand
Ingersoll Rand is an American multinational company that provides flow creation and industrial products. The company was formed in February 2020 through the spinoff of the industrial segment of Ingersoll-Randplc (now known as Trane Technologies) ...
(USA) — SD/TD/PT (now owned by
Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
)
*
Kamani Engineering Corporation
KEC International Limited (Kamani Engineering Corporation) is an Indian multinational company and also India's second largest manufacturer of electric power transmission towers and one of the largest Power transmission, Engineering, Procure ...
(India) — tractor-mounted (now part of the
RPG Group
The Rama Prasad Goenka Group, commonly known as RPG Group, is an Indian industrial and services conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The roots of the RPG Group can be traced back to the enterprise of Ramdutt Goenka in 1820. RPG ...
; production ended
c.1970-1980)
*
LiuGong, HQ at
Liuzhou
Liuzhou (; , IPA Pronunciation:) is a prefecture-level city in north-central Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. The prefecture's population was 3,758,700 in 2010, including 1,436,599 in the built-up area made of 4 urban ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
—
*
Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Islands
* Marshall Islands, an i ...
(England) — TD
*
Sakai Heavy Industries (Japan) — SD/TD/PT/3P
*
Sany
Sany Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational heavy equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Changsha, Hunan. It is the 3rd-largest heavy equipment manufacturer in the world, and the first in its industry in China to ente ...
(China) — SD/TD/PT
* World Equipment(China) — SD/TD/PT
* Tampo (USA) — SD/TD
*
Vibromax
JCB VIbromax, formerly known as Vibromax was a manufacturer of road rollers in West Germany. The former Vibromax was acquired by JCB in 2005 and rebranded as JCB Vibromax. In 2012, the Vibromax part of the brand was dropped, and in 2014 the Gate ...
(Germany) — SD/TD/PT (purchased by
JCB, now branded JCB)
*
Wacker Neuson
Wacker Neuson SE (formerly: Wacker Construction Equipment AG) with headquarters in Munich is a manufacturer of construction equipment and compact machines for concrete and construction site technology listed on the stock market. The group inclu ...
(Germany) —
KEY:
* SD = Single drum
* TD = Tandem drum
* PT = Pneumatic tyre — Rubber tyre or multi-tyre are also common
* 3P = 3-point rollers — These are very similar to the old steam roller design
See also
*
Tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
*
Roller (agricultural tool)
The roller is an agriculture, agricultural tool used for flattening land or breaking up large clumps of soil, especially after ploughing or disc harrowing. Typically, rollers are pulled by tractors or, prior to mechanisation, a team of animals su ...
for farm rollers
*
Roller (disambiguation)
Roller may refer to:
Birds
*Roller, a bird of the family Coraciidae
* Roller (pigeon), a domesticated breed or variety of pigeon
Devices
* Roller (agricultural tool), a non-powered tool for flattening ground
* Road roller, a vehicle for compac ...
for other types of roller
*
Landfill compaction vehicle
*
Mine roller
A mine roller or ''mine trawl'' is a demining device mounted on a tank or armoured personnel carrier, designed to detonate anti-tank mines. It allows engineers to clear a lane through a minefield which is protected by enemy fire.
The device is ...
a
demining
Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By contra ...
device
References
External links
Road Roller Associationnbsp;— UK-based society dedicated to the preservation of steam and motor rollers, and ancillary road-making equipment.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Road Roller
Engineering vehicles
Road construction