The Popular “Big Guy”

There are always some “big guys” – giant machines – in the Intelligent Industry & Information Technology section of the third China International Import Expo (CIIE). Exhibition halls in the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai usually have two floors for each section during the expo. But the halls for this part have no second floor, and the space in this section is saved for giant exhibits. The “3H” hall had been designed without any pillars or the second floor. This hall has a clearance height of 33 meters and the floor can withstand equipment of five tons. It was built for giant equipment.

For the third CIIE, a new member joined in those “big guys”: the cold recycler of Wirtgen Group. The giant machine with a black, white and grey color scheme attracts many visitors.

The cold recycler is mainly used for milling and planing of asphalt concrete pavement, and the regeneration of old asphalt pavement. Wirtgen’s cold recycler, model W 380 CR, can regenerate asphalt road surfaces 3.8 meters wide and 30 centimeters thick at one time. The construction efficiency is extremely high, with limited impact on the traffic.

This is the first time Wirtgen Group joins the import expo in Shanghai. The company’s representatives said that they have long been doing business in the Chinese market. Wirtgen Group is a German company with a long history in manufacturing machinery for road construction and maintenance. It also develops technologies for mineral processing and material recycling. The company has a plant in Langfang, Hebei Province, and sales and service centers in Taicang, Jiangsu Province and Foshan, Guangdong Province.

Since the beginning of China’s reform and opening up in the late 1970s, Wirtgen has been in the Chinese market. After more than 30 years of operations, it has established a solid presence in China. The reason why it chose to participate in the CIIE, the exhibition staff said, is that “we believe that China’s infrastructure development will bring lots of opportunities to our company, and the CIIE is a good platform to showcase our company and products to customers in China and the world.”