Modern asphalt machines – protecting your back in road construction

Road networks are vast. Hundreds of thousands of kilometres wind through the most diverse landscapes. Whether it’s motorway, country road or urban area – for some it’s a fun driving experience, and for others it’s hard work. To produce roads, heavy duty machines such as asphalt rollers are used, and they need to be controlled by a human operator for many hours at a time.

This means that the machine controller needs to remain constantly alert and focused. Driver’s cabs with back-friendly designs can both provide support and make work easier, as they not only assist with getting in and out, but also make it easier to operate and work with the heavy duty equipment.

Air-conditioned driver’s cabs for more concentration

The asphalt is boiling hot when it is spread out and rolled to form the road surface. The hot air seems to ripple even more than usual in the scorching summer heat. Given these conditions, it should be obvious that all driver’s cabs need to be fitted with air-conditioning. And how is this relevant to back health? It’s very simple: under high exposure to heat, the human body and muscles fatigue more quickly. This results in worse posture, which sooner or later will give rise to back problems.

Easy entry

Being equipped with an air-conditioning system is obviously not enough to make an asphalt roller back-friendly. Because the driver’s cab is elevated, support is needed to make getting in and out easy on the back, for example by providing an adequate number of deep, non-slip steps, grab rails and a door prop with a large opening angle.

Being able to climb up to the cab comfortably is not enough, however. The driver also needs to be able to access the water and hydrogen tank easily. As road building work is performed even under difficult weather conditions, it is vital for the cab to have non-slip foot edges and slip-resistant and a reliably fixed floor covering on the inside.

Reduced jolts and vibrations

As these machines are generally operated while sitting, additional ergonomic aspects play an important role. This includes the reduction of jolts and vibrations. One way to do this is for the cab to be mounted on vibration-damping bearings, decoupled and not resting on the drive unit. Another method is to give the driver an adjustable spring-mounted seat, with an indication of the optimal weight distribution. And, of course, the backrest should be of adequate size and have adjustable tilt.

Nothing out of sight

Another thing that plays a major role in the driver’s back health is safe and comfortable operation. As asphalt machines are difficult to turn and are operated both forwards and in reverse, it is a good idea for the driver’s seat to be rotatable. This makes it easy to adjust the driver’s position to match the direction of travel.

The driver has good all-round visibility since the driver’s seat can slide across the entire width of the cab. The controls, such as the ergonomically formed joystick, need to be located within easy reach for the driver. This eliminates uncomfortable straining.

Last but not least

An easy-to-use touchscreen display containing useful data on the asphalt coating and compression and an LED headlight for working at night (which is not uncommon) make work significantly more comfortable and reduce stress. As work doesn’t stop during the winter months, a heating system, including a footwell heater, makes things a little cosier. This is important because when the body is cold, one false move is all it takes to trigger low back pain.

• Before work can be started, the driver needs to access the work area safely and comfortably. Grab rails and sufficiently large non-slip steps help to make this possible. Inside the cab, it is important for the floor covering to be slip-resistant and firmly fixed in place. Weather conditions must not impact the accessibility of the work area.
  
  
• Asphalt rollers do not have the comfortable suspension of a car. This means that you need to ensure that both the driver’s cab itself and the driver’s seat have their own comfortable suspension to prevent jolts and vibrations.
  
  
• For the driver’s seat, attention must be given to weight-independent suspension adjustment, sufficient seat size and an adjustable backrest. This gives people of different sizes a good seated position. Adjustable armrests provide additional comfort.
  
  
• Having a back-friendly seated position is one thing, but to operate this type of vehicle you also need good all-round visibility and various adjustable functions. Control devices must be within easy reach and the operating lever must be ergonomically formed. As all sides of the vehicle need to be well visible, it needs to be possible to rotate the driver’s seat and slide it sideways across the width of the vehicle.

 

Minimum requirements

• Back-friendly entry and exit
• Reduced jolts and vibrations
• Back-friendly seated position
• Safe and comfortable operation

Also appropriate

• Air-cushioned seat with ...
  • Active weight adjustment
  • Variably adjustable height
  • Adjustable dampers for vertical damping
  • Lockable longitudinal horizontal suspension
  • Adjustment of seat cushion depth and tilt
  • Backrest tilt adjustment
  • Active seat air-conditioning and seat heating
  • Lumbar support and side contour adjustment
  • Headrest
• Illumination of the side work areas
• Drum lighting
• Digital display of main operating information
• 360° camera system with bird’s eye view
• Air-conditioning system
• Heatable rear-view mirrors – adjustable from inside the cabdigitale

• BW 154 AP-5
• BW 154 AP-5 AM
• BW 154 APO-5
• BW 154 ACP-5
• BW 154 ACP-5 AM
• BW 174 AP-5
• BW 174 AP-5 AM
• BW 174 AP-5 AM Hybrid
• BW 174 APO-5
• BW 174 ACP-5
• BW 174 ACP-5 AM
• BW 174 ACP-5 AM Hybrid

Manufacturer

BOMAG GmbH
Hellerwald
56154 Boppard
GERMANY
Tel.  +496742/1000
info​@​bomag.com
www.bomag.com