Safer Testing with New Hydraulic Roller Compactor

Item #: 20260008

CONTACTS

Implementing Organization: Region One
Implementation Lead: Sam Burt
Development Team: Curt McCuistion, Sam Burt
Article Written By: Curt McCuistion
Innovation Team Coordinator: Winston Inoway

STATUS

Implementation Date: September 22, 2025
Adoption Status: Fully Implemented
Adoptability Note: Central and region materials labs will all have these new testing machines.

APPLIES TO

Topic: Safety and Health
Organization(s): Central Materials, Region 1, Region 2, Region 3, Region 4
Job Role(s): Materials Engineer
Tags: Highway transportation, occupational safety, ( adoption ), risk management, insurance, materials science, inspection, testing > samples, sampling

PROBLEM

A hydraulic roller compactor creates test specimens for the Hamburg Wheel Tracker test apparatus to see how the asphalt resists rutting and stripping.

The old machine required heavy plates heated to over 300 degrees and placed in a jig that was difficult to reach. Then hot asphaltic material had to be placed and compacted. The work was very heavy, very hot, and dangerous.

CHANGE

Sam Burt from the Region One Materials Lab researched and found a new Hydraulic Roller Compactor that was easier and more safe to use. The idea was submitted to Central MTF and was so well received that they bought the new device for Central Labs and all Region Labs.

RESULT

The new compactor is more ergonomically efficient and easier to load. It is also less dangerous because the tech does not have to lean over the machine or lift heavy hot items over each other.

The new machine is quieter, has a smaller footprint, and is more accurate. Because the head of the new machine vibrates much like the roller compactors in the field it improves testing quality by producing specimens that better represent the compaction created by rollers in the field.