Africa’s second largest country, Algeria, is currently experiencing an economic boom which has inspired this North African nation to invest into expanding its infrastructure. The largest project is the Maghreb Highway. The segment in Algeria has a total length over 1,200 km. In only three and a half years, this highway was constructed parallel to the Mediterranean coast with three lanes over nearly its entire length. This represents the Algerian part of a North African arterial highway linking Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. The planners designed and realised the highway in accordance with European standards. Algerian, Chinese and Japanese consortia are responsible for the actual implementation. Hamm rollers were deployed to handle a large share of the compaction work. All across this country, numerous rubber wheeled rollers and tandem rollers from the HD and HD+ series could be seen along this unusually long highway construction site.

National arterial highway

Algeria possesses rich reserves of oil and gas. Sustained high prices for fossil fuels have brought an enormous economic boom to the country. The national government is naturally happy about the incoming revenue and is investing a share of the funds into an ambitious project to update its infrastructure: the Maghreb Highway. Speedy construction was considered vital by the Algerian government in order to quickly connect as many of the country’s residents as possible to this new “national aorta”. Altogether, the highway crosses 24 of Algeria’s 48 wilayas (provinces). This is very important in a country where 85% of all transportation is ground-based.

1,216 km in 40 months

Construction of the highway was to be completed in only about 3 1/2 years. The Algerian construction industry was not capable of handling this mammoth job on its own. Accordingly, the government awarded the contract to build roughly 650 km of the highway in the western part of the country to CITIC-CRCC, a Chinese consortium. The contract to build the section covering about 400 km in the east went to the Consortium Japonais pour l‘Autoroute Algérienne (COJAAL). Algerian companies handled construction or expansion of the roughly 150 km of highway around the capital of Algiers.

Many companies – One system

Despite the many companies and participants involved in this project, the new highway is constructed identically across its entire route: A 14 cm base course was laid on top of a 30 cm hydraulically bound support layer (HSL). Finally, a surface course with a height of 6 cm was laid. The aggregates were obtained directly from Algeria since the country has many quarries, especially in the north. However, the cement was imported from America.

The east-west highway: A mega economic engine

It is truly a unique project: The Maghreb Highway crosses all of North Africa from Morocco to Libya in parallel to the relatively densely populated Mediterranean coast. This axis provides more than 50 million people with a connection to cities, international airports, harbours and major rail lines. Algeria is responsible for the longest segment of this highway over a distance of 1,216 km. It is investing a total of USD 11 billion into the infrastructure. About 200 km of highways around the capital city of Algiers were built in the 1990s. All of the other new segments were built with three lanes in both directions. By building a highway of this size, the Algerian government is preparing the capacity needed to handle rapid growth in vehicle traffic. In Algeria, the route passes along the north of the Tell Atlas mountain chain and traverses some high plateaus. Due to the many tunnels and inclines that were involved, this route through mountain terrain was quite challenging for the road builders. Once all of the sections are complete, it will be possible to drive across Algeria, the second largest country in Africa, in only ten hours. This will make it possible to reach the large cities quite a bit faster and more safely too. The new infrastructure is opening up many new opportunities for the country’s people and its economy. Experts have estimated that 10,000 jobs will be created on the long term as a direct and indirect result of this highway.

Quality according to plan

Detailed machine usage plans and rolling schemes were created to manage the position and frequency of the passes with the rollers on the 11.50 m wide highway with its three lanes. A team of tandem and rubber wheeled rollers was always at work behind the Vögele pavers. First, tandem rollers from Hamm compacted the roadway surface. Depending on the project stage, rollers from the HD series or the very new 12 t heavy HD+ 120 tandem rollers were used. These machines were followed in each case by several rubber wheeled rollers of type GRW 18. While compacting the base course, they were outfitted with “only” 18 t. However, when compacting the surface course they had extra weights to apply 25 t.

Convenient compaction with the HD+ 120

The highlight for the operators was the new HD+ 120. It was deployed in Algeria in the open version with a ROPS roof that is conventional in hot countries. The roller operators enjoyed the modern, compact working machine with its outstanding visibility. They were quick to appreciate the comfort provided by the operator’s position in the HD+. There is no other machine that provides such freedom of movement up on the platform. The seat adjustment feature was popular during compaction along the edges. The easy-to-use adjustment mechanism allows sideways movement of the seat or rotation by 90°. This gives the operators an excellent view of the drum edge and the machine’s surroundings for a full overview of the drums and the sprinkling in any seat position.

International team benefits from language-neutral operation

An international team of operators worked on the Maghreb Highway. The machines were operated by men from Algeria, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, China and Vietnam, and construction was managed by Algerians, Japanese or Chinese, depending on the particular construction segment. In an environment of this sort, the language-neutral design of the operating console proved to be highly beneficial. Hamm is very experienced in the design of such consoles. The self-explanatory operation and well-arranged presentation of all of the relevant operating data with clear icons makes compaction work very simple for the operators, thereby contributing to the quality of the highway.

All roads lead to Algeria

The Asian contractors transported their Hamm rollers to Algeria via diverse routes: Some of the machines were shipped from the home country to the Mediterranean, while others were taken from projects in Asia or Africa and transported to North Africa over the road. In addition, a number of new machines were delivered directly to Algeria from Germany.

Total service, all around the globe

In this international environment with such demanding time pressure, the construction companies needed fast, dependable service. Thanks to Demdistral S.p.A., the Hamm dealer in Algeria, they were in good hands. The construction machinery professionals maintained intensive contact with the teams working along the new highway. From the main office in Algiers or the branch near Constantine in the eastern part of the country, our dealer provided service and spare parts to the different contractors. Service engineer Abdelhak Fodil was a popular visitor and consultant in the different camps along the route. He worked to make sure the right spare parts were available exactly when they were needed. At the site of the Japanese consortium COJAAL, the service engineer from Wirtgen Japan, Mr. Murata, worked to provide maintenance and service. He and Abdelhak Fodil made a great team, and the result was reflected in the high availability of the Hamm rollers. “The spare parts service here at the construction site was incredible. The dependability of the Hamm rollers is also extremely important to us so we can meet our contractual obligations”, said service manager M. Nakashima from COJAAL in summary of the situation. He knows what he’s talking about: “We attach great importance to caring for and maintaining the rollers. Each day, the operators check the most critical functions as well as basic things such as the oil level. In addition, we perform regular maintenance including a check for wear after every 250 hours of operation. This keeps the rollers in good condition at all times and prevents machine failures. During the planned maintenance checks, spare machines are available so construction of the highway can continue with no interruptions.”

All clear for upcoming projects

In mid-2010, the highway opened for traffic over large areas right on schedule, following 40 months of construction. The next step will involve the construction of filling stations and roadhouses to ensure a regular supply of fuel to travellers. The work goes on for the Hamm rollers: Many of the machines will remain in Algeria as they are needed to build a second eastwest connection about 350 km south of the new route. A north-south axis leading from Algeria all the way to Nigeria is also planned to provide a connection through the desert deep into the continent. Clearly, there’s plenty of work for the orange-coloured Hamm rollers on the African continent.