Grontmij has extensive experience in deploying both Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) and Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD) equipment. Having developed FWD technology over the last thirty years, Grontmij has unique expertise as a supplier of equipment, customer support and associated testing and consultancy services.
Grontmij’s experience extends to the development of Heavy Weight Deflectometer (HWD) machines for airfield pavements and in recent years Super Heavy Weight Deflectometer (SHWD) machines to emulate the wheel loading effect of the Airbus380 (285Kn wheel loads) Boeing B77-300 (266Kn Wheel Loads) and Boeing 747-8 "super jumbos". These machines allow customers to rapidly asses existing or new pavements or foundations and are regularly used in roads and airfield projects.
Grontmij supply and support these machines, providing customised client training throughout the UK, Europe and worldwide. The on-going development of the equipment continues to provide the functionality that our clients require. Continuous support is provided to clients via a telephone hotline as well as onsite support as required.
Grontmij FWD’s utilise a unique blend of control and actuation systems that provide a consistent and dependable machine capable of rapidly carrying out testing procedures consistently and accurately.
Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD)
Grontmij supply FWD and LWD devices throughout the world, as well as providing:
• technical support
• customer training
• testing services
• assessment and reporting
FWD testing allows the structural condition of a road pavement to be rapidly assessed non-destructively and they are effective and economical for the collection of information on the structural condition of road and airport pavements.
Falling Weight Deflectometers are key to precise performance assessment when carrying out ongoing maintenance work or when rehabilitating and reinforcing existing pavements.
Grontmij FWD machines are either van or trailer mounted and the machines follow the modular principle meaning that there is no need for replacement with new equipment if the demands on the equipment change. All that is necessary to upgrade the equipment from a standard 7-150 kN FWD to a 7-250 kN Heavy Weight Deflectometer (HWD) or event to a 7-300 kN Super Heavy Weight Deflectometer (Super HWD) is to add more weights, a larger load cell and upgrade software. Grontmij’s standard FWD main unit can be integrated in a van or trailer and then customised to meet client’s requirements. This can include adding a digital camera recording of the pavement condition in conjunction with the FWD testing.
In the UK Grontmij has successfully taken part in the Highways Agency Correlation trials at the Transport Research Laboratory for many years. Internationally Grontmij has gained approval from CROW and SHARP.
Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD)
Grontmij manufacture the Prima100 LWD which is based on the same principals as FWD; LWD test equipment is the scaled down, highly portable version and is ideal for testing foundations and thinner bound construction. It has rapidly gained wide spread use with many civil engineering contractors as a key element of their quality control procedures.
During the construction stage, assessment of road pavement foundation using the Prima100 LWD enables the overall stiffness of the foundations to be rapidly determined to ensure the most effective use of new and recycled materials. The Prima100 complies with the testing requirements in design standards such as IAN73/06.
Supply, Support and Training
If your organisation is looking to purchase an LWD , Grontmij can provide you with a machine with an industry leading performance and reliability that can be customised to your requirements. Grontmij can also provide customised training, maintenance and support at your preferred location or at the main facility.
Is your organisation looking for portable equipment to assess the construction of foundations in terms of performance? Grontmij Prima100 provides this capability. The Prima100 can rapidly assess the performance of foundation layers in accordance with IAN73/06. Grontmij also provide customised training, maintenance and support at your preferred location or at the main facility. Grontmij has been using Prima100 machines for 11 years testing and assessing foundations in the UK. In utilising this experience, Grontmij can provide clients with training in the implementation and use of the equipment, then assessment and reporting of the data collected.
If you would like further information on our Prima100 LWD or are looking for training or technical support please contact Malcolm Durie on 0131 550 6300 or by emailing malcolm.durie@grontmij.co.uk.