Boral pioneers safer road construction

Construction giant Boral Limited has rolled out a new road surfacing truck that disperses aggregate from the front of the vehicle as it moves forward, rather than a tipper that spreads the material while the truck reverses.

Boral says its new FMAS, or Forward Moving Aggregate Spreader, greatly enhances safety and eliminates the need for a spotter, as no reversing is required.

The Boral FMAS affords faster completion of works and significantly reduces any potential infrastructure and overhead damage such as contacting power lines, trees and bridges.

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According to Stuart Partridge, Boral's National Asset Manager – Asphalt, the company developed the Forward Moving Aggregate Spreader following a call to industry by VicRoads, following a serious accident involving a VicRoads worker some years ago.

"Surfacing roads has remained one of the most potentially challenging tasks faced by construction crews because of the nature of the material being used and the way that material is applied," he said.

"Rollover accidents, blind spots and high reversing tippers that can be at risk of interfering with power lines or overhanging trees are just some of the problems associated with the current range of spreaders.

"This invention allows locally manufactured and approved trucks to be substantially modified whilst still meeting regulatory standards, which is why VicRoads has mandated that forward moving aggregate spreaders should be in use on all its projects by 2022 – a move we hope will be followed by other state road authorities nationally."

Boral Australia Chief Executive Joe Goss said the innovation demonstrated the company's commitment to safety.

"This invention speaks to the importance Boral places on keeping our workers safe and our commitment to innovation across all of our products and activities," he said.

"I want to congratulate Stuart and his team for coming up with such an important invention – and one that will be embraced by the industry nationally and in our view, internationally also. It not only delivers a major improvement in safety standards but will also help to lower the cost of road surfacing because it supports a more efficient and productive process."

IVECO Australia has also played a role in the development of the FMAS.

"Boral has shown innovation and forethought in researching and ultimately developing this vehicle in line with the new industry safety standards in Australia," said IVECO Australia Managing Director, Bruce Healy.

"IVECO has a long and proud history as one of Australia's preferred suppliers of concrete agitators and the like for this industry, so naturally we were very pleased to participate in this project.

"As a local manufacturer with an extensive engineering centre in Melbourne, we were able to advise Boral on the best IVECO platform on which to build their vehicle – the Stralis AD 8x4 – and offer support during the development and build process.

"I'm confident that the new FMAS model will be well-received by the market."