You read the title right, a road that builds itself. This is the future of road construction! Could you really instantly create a brick road? The answer is yes, but what is the secret behind this incredible and innovative machine?
How it works:
Tiger-Stone or “Road Printer” was made with an angled plain, at the top is an opening where the construction workers simply feed the loose bricks into the machine. Changing the way roads are being constructed for good. The bricks are then automatically packed down by gravity when laid out on the ground. They need to be given to the machine in the required pattern before it slides together and forms the road.
It runs completely on electricity and the electric crawler is what makes it move. Inch by inch it crawls over the sand based layer, moving at about 13 feet per minute. There’s a small telescoping forklift that feeds the hopper, that allows the Tiger-Stone to lay out the brick.
The built in sensors makes edging done straight off the bat with Tiger-Stone so there’s no cutting afterwards!
The road printer has 3 varying sizes in 13, 16, and 20 feet in width. By using built in sensors you can stay on track, outlined by the curbs. With these different sizes there comes a difference in price. The cost ranges from $81,485 – $108,655. Brick roads are very common for garden paths, walkways, or patios so most homeowners prefer the smaller version.
To see the Tiger-Stone in action see the video below:
The company who built it:
Tiger-Stone was invented by Henk van Kuijk, the director of the Dutch industrial company Vanku. Vanku has been around for over 20 years now and has developed into a specialty company in the field of mechanical engineering. Their main focus is primarily on the development of special machines and have a lot of own brand machines all with an innovative character. They mainly do business in Europe but have also manufactured to different countries as well.
In recent years Vanku has implemented several different projects such as Aquamaster or Digi Cutter, Tiger-Stone is just the beginning. They take great pride in the machines they build and have 4 main characteristics their machines excel in:
- Quality
- High productivity
- Ergonomics
- User Friendly
Saves time, labor, money, and physical pains.
This machine can lay up to 400 square meters a day with only using 2-3 workers. That’s 400% more than a whole team of workers use to be able to do. It took agonizing, back breaking work to complete a brick road and workers would only be able to lay about 100 square meters on average a day.
That’s why Henk van Kuijk invented Tiger-Stone. With the Tiger-Stone you can increase your production while at the same time reducing the amount of work needed to be done.It only requires 3 workers to feed the bricks into the machine and the rest, Tiger-Stone does for you. This machine carries ergonomic benefits for it’s workers by finishing the edges automatically and preventing pavers from having to get down on their hands and knees. Essentially making their job much easier and more efficient.
What else can Tiger-Stone do for you?
Henk van Kuijk decided that squatting and kneeling and shoving the bricks into place was too slow and physically challenging for the workers. Which is why Tiger-Stone was created specifically to give construction workers better working conditions and to enhance the quality of the work laid out.
With this machine it creates more jobs for partially disabled staff because of the ease of operation. This also increases productivity in the work force and it takes very low maintenance. The machine has virtually no mechanical or moving parts, reducing the noise to a minimum. A recent article from Inhabitat points to some of the awesome benefits of Tiger-Stone here:
Why Brick?
Brick roads have been around for centuries but was nearly abandoned due to the effort it takes to produce them. Building these roads use to be an intense back-breaking job so until recently they weren’t very profitable.
The Green Building Community has been bringing the brick roads back into popularity! Not only do the roads look beautiful and rustic, but they’re actually helping improve the effectiveness of aquifers. The sewer systems are setup in such a way that they actually absorb rainwater between the pavers and soaks it back into the ground. This reduces the stormwater runoff.
Durability is never a problem with brick roads, the cement lasts an extremely long time. Sometimes even up to 100 years! The pavers used to lay the brick are easy to replace and repair and bricks will save you a pretty penny too, they’re easy to produce and can be reused.
About Planswift:
Like Planswift, Vanku construction company was made to help their customers by inventing new ways to save YOU time and money. With the Tiger-Stone, productivity is at a high and workers are finishing their jobs days faster. Planswift can help keep you up to speed as well. This software can have you receiving plans, doing faster takeoffs, submitting more accurate estimates.
Submit more bids, in less time and increase your profits. PlanSwift is here to help you every step of the way.