A specialised service requires specialised gear to achieve an expected high level of results and, to this end, paving specialists Tarmac NZ recently purchased a Bomag cold planer from the Porter Group to provide efficient and accurate pavement milling.
A specialised service requires specialised gear to achieve an expected high level of results and, to his end, paving specialists Tarmac NZ recently purchased a Bomag cold planer from the Porter Group to provide efficient and accurate pavement milling.
Based in Kerikeri in Northland, Tarmac NZ is taking on the whole country with its specialised pavement surfacing business.
Back in 1971 Chris Flintoff started an earthworks company, providing a range of services from subdivision construction to forestry roading. His son Hayden followed him into civil construction, working for his father as a labourer before progressing to a machine operator.
Hayden then wanted to focus on surfacing work. He set up Tarmac NZ in 2003, and the two companies soon became one.
“We have deliberately chosen to become pavement specialists, providing a superior product and service for our clients,” he says.
To facilitate this, Tarmac NZ has invested significantly inthe best paving machinery on the market, the latest of which is a BomagBM1300/35 cold planer, from the Porter Group. This joins the new Bomag asphaltpaver the company bought from Porters last year.
“A year ago, we set up an asphalt batching plant inKerikeri, that can supply 40-60 tonnes of hotmix per hour.
“The new cold planer is another excellent workhorse thatwill only boost our productivity.” Hayden says that, while they carry out theirown projects as well as subcontracting work, he is gearing the business toproviding a niche service to the larger civil construction companies, such asFulton Hogan and Ventia, on their maintenance contracts.
“We like to work in with the big guys, rather than competing with them.
“We’ve had a full crew working full time on the state highway with Fulton Hogan for the past seven months, three of these utilising our new cold planer. But with the end of winter, we’re now coming to the end of the asphalt ‘mill and fill’ season.
“Next up, we are heading to Auckland to help Higgins outwith paving work.”
Porters has a similar attitude towards workingcollaboratively, and Hayden says the company went out of its way to help theminto their new Bomag.
“The whole process was made easy because of how helpful Porters are. They worked hard to structure a finance deal to get us into the machine. We couldn’t have done it without their support.
“We have a great relationship with Porters and enjoy dealing with them.”
When a company makes an investment such as this, it isimportant that the new machine gets plenty of work to pay its way. This meansTarmac NZ can be found on worksites throughout the country, working regularlyin Auckland and the team is happy to travel as far as the work is.
“The big gear gets the jobs done quickly, so we need lots of work to keep it busy.” Hayden says his new Bomag has already shown its abilities on a recent project in Northland – a commercial project featuring a large indoor basketball court. The job includes building a large carpark and the construction of a new raised concrete intersection.
“Using the traditional method, a digger would have taken three days to build the intersection, but our new profiling machine did it in three hours, and with better accuracy.” Bomag says its cold planers – also known as profilers or cold millers – are designed for selective milling of lane and ground linings made up of a wide range of asphalt and concrete compounds.
They are particularly suited for repairs or the complete removal of motorways and major roads, and for rural roads and inner-city work, including work on roundabouts. With different working and milling depths, large areas can be removed quickly and completely in one work stage.
The BM 1300/35 has a 350 HP engine power, making it the highest performance planer in its class.
The long, height-adjustable conveyor belt can be pivoted by45 degrees to either side, ensuring high flexibility in combination with the truck.
And for the operator and crew on site, a fully enclosed and noise-insulated engine compartment dampens operating noise, while waste air and exhaust fumes are vented without obstructing the driver’s view.
