Unusual job for a VÖGELE paver in Lyons, France. SUPER Paver Rehabilitates Horse Racetrack
Unusual job for a VÖGELE paver in Lyons, France. SUPER Paver Rehabilitates Horse Racetrack Seite 1/6 SUPER pavers are a familiar sight in road construction. However, only very few people would expect to encounter a VÖGELE machine on a horse racetrack. Rehabilitation of just such a racetrack was the job to be carried out in the Lyons metropolitan area. French contractor Perrier TP, a subsidiary of Colas, wanted to spread ViscoRide, a modern special-purpose material for equine racetracks, with their SUPER 1900. And the decision paid off: the new surface of the Hippodrome de Lyon is superior to conventional materials and the job went swimmingly.
The Hippodrome de Lyon Horse racing is extremely popular in France, as well as being of considerable economic importance. The Lyons metropolitan area alone boasts two horse racetracks, including the Villeurbanne track that is owned and operated by France Galop. This track now needed rehabilitating. The rehabilitation project, in addition, involved construction of a shopping mall, new terraces, access routes and entrance areas. Seite 2/6 Rehabilitation of the 27,000m2 area As is customary for hippodromes, the old track was grass. However, a grass racetrack requires a great deal of maintenance and is difficult to keep available all year round and in all weather conditions. That is why France Galop opted for a completely new rehabilitation method, awarding the contract for the work to Perrier TP of the Colas Group.
Seite 3/6 ViscoRide surface features high drainage capacity The decision was made to use the modern textile material ViscoRide. This consists of specially selected recycled fibers, sand and the polymer binder Viscopol. Thanks to its extraordinary drainability, ViscoRide stays elastic and stable under all weather conditions. ViscoRide is a scientifically developed material for surfaces on which horses are ridden. In Villeurbanne, a drainage capacity of 150mm in 12 seconds was specified, and we were able to achieve this, explained Sébastien Raymond, Applications Manager at Colas. ViscoRide provides superior hoof grip, faster hoof take-off and more stable control in bends.
Seite 4/6 Spreading with SUPER paver ViscoRide will doubtless lend the Villeurbanne racetrack a special touch. Yet how is this special material treated? It s more a case of spreading it than paving it, said Sébastien Raymond. There are no special-purpose machines for such a job. Therefore, the versatility and reliability of the VÖGELE SUPER 1900 paver were the deciding factors over other construction machines for this rather exotic application. Thanks to the VÖGELE paver, it was possible to meet the specified criteria, even when placing a rather exotic material like ViscoRide.
Only minor modification necessary At Villeurbanne, the technical requirements on the machinery differed from those demanded by conventional road paving in a number of ways. One example was the screed, an AB 500. In order to prevent the screed from sinking into the elastic material unable to bear its weight, it could not be operated in floating mode and had to be fixed in place mechanically. The feeding of material to the paver also differed from conventional paving jobs. This task was handled by a feed vehicle equipped with a shovel plate specially designed for a continuous feed of the paver with the textile material. Seite 5/6 01 // 01 // The outer track for horse racing with an overall length of 1,425m and a width of 18m was completely rehabilitated.
Seite 6/6 Spreading 5,000 tonnes of ViscoRide Some 5,000 tonnes of ViscoRide had to be distributed on the Hippodrome de Lyon. Though spreading the material took great expertise, the actual work with the paver was closely akin to conventional asphalt paving. The SUPER 1900 did its lap of the racetrack quickly and without problems. After a final pass with a rotary harrow to loosen up the ViscoRide, the horse racetrack was finished much to the pleasure of the French jockeys. Water-permeable base and intermediate layer Previously, the base and intermediate layer had been paved conventionally. All parameters were selected for these two layers so that the specified drainage capacity could be easily achieved. The SUPER 1900 spread a total of 5,000t of ViscoRide quickly and without problems.