Ammann Construction Machinery South Africa is introducing its Apollo asphalt plant range to the Southern African market.

Rocco Lehman, general manager, Ammann, says that the Apollo brand is aimed directly at South Africa’s emerging road contractor sector, where there is a pressing need for competitively priced solutions for mobile asphalt plants and allied paving equipment.

“With limited access to finance, SMMEs frequently cannot take the next step when it comes to bidding on larger projects, as well as advancing up the scale in terms of the Construction Industry Development Board rating scheme. However, if they stipulate confirmation of a rental agreement in their tenders, then this creates an opportunity,” says Lehman.

“Apollo products make sense, as they offer excellent economies of scale for SMMEs seeking a stronger foothold in the market, but prevented from growing due to the high cost of plant acquisitions. We’ve taken cognisance of this to the extent that we’re also introducing specialist rental options that can later be converted into an outright purchase agreement,” he adds.

In addition to affordability, another key benefit of Apollo asphalt plants is their simplified technology, which makes them easy to operate and maintain. Plus, all Apollo asphalt plants comply with South African environmental legislation.

Apollo is a leading Indian original equipment manufacturer, which became a member of the Ammann Group in April 2013. Headquartered in Switzerland, Ammann has over 100 years’ experience in the design and development of static and mobile plants. Currently, there are an estimated 4 000 Ammann mixing plants in operation worldwide serving the roads industry. Apollo, in turn, has an approximate installed base of more than 2 400 plants. The latter are either batch mix or continuous drum mix-type portable and mobile plants, ranging up to
240 tonnes per hour (tph).

Apollo ValuTec 80 and DrumMix 90

The Apollo range will be supplied and supported directly by Ammann South Africa, with two modular asphalt plants initially available from Q1 2017. These comprise the Apollo ValuTec 80 batch plant, and the Apollo DrumMix 90 counterflow continuous mixing plant. Both are 15% RA (recycled asphalt) compliant and can be modified for higher RA output requirements. Tonnages range from around 75 tph to 90 tph.

The ValuTec 80 meets the requirements for cold or hot reclaimed asphalt feeds, together with either liquid or solid additives. This is the smallest Apollo plant and ideally suited to business owners who want straightforward processes and the ability to further customise with options. This plant ranges from very basic functionality to much more advanced applications, depending on the needs of the contractor.

Apollo’s DrumMix series meets higher tonnage per hour outputs ranging up to
90 tph. Apollo’s unique flight design on this unit ensures total heat transfer, thorough mixing and coating, lower emissions and the prevention of bitumen oxidation.

“These plants are ideal for contractors, as they are designed to be upgraded as the size and complexity of their projects grow,” says Lehman.

The possibility of introducing Apollo paving units is also being investigated. Like Apollo asphalt plants, all Apollo units are designed by Ammann’s research and development centres, based in Europe, with manufacturing then taking place in India.

Prime 140

The Apollo range will be sold alongside the Ammann series of semi-mobile hot-mix asphalt plants. The main Ammann unit supplied locally is the Prime 140, which complies with Sanral design standards where a 40% RA content is specified. This is a 140 tph unit.

An Ammann Prime 140 will also be included in Ammann’s new Asphalt Plant Rental Division, alongside the Apollo units, in the process catering for all segments of the road contractor market.

Elba concrete mixing plants

Also new for the South African market, in 2017, will be Ammann’s Elba concrete mixing plant solutions, available in stationary, semi-mobile and fully mobile versions. Their modular designs provide the flexibility to customise for current and future requirements. The initial plant to be launched will be a 60 m³ unit, the Elba CBT 60 SL.

Like Ammann mobile and semi-mobile plants, the Elba CBT 60 SL is designed for road-legal transportation: just two open-top containers are required for relocation. Installation times are fast, thanks to folding mechanisms and their compact plant design; plus a foundation is not required for installation. A soil compaction of
250 kN/m² is sufficient.

“At Ammann, we always have something new to add to the market,” concludes Lehman. “As a global leader, our success continues to be driven by listening to local demand and developing and delivering purpose-built solutions.”