Today's road projects require companies to work quickly, with millimeter precision and strict cost management. A successful example is the recent work carried out at the Misano World Circuit, where a Trimble solution optimized the processes to recons...

The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli is a motorcycle racing circuit located in the Italian municipality of Misano Adriatico (Rimini), in the Santa Monica community. Since the 1991 motorsport season, the racetrack has hosted the World Superbike Championship and, since 2007, the San Marino and Rimini's Coast motorcycle Grand Prix.

Beginning in 1993, the circuit has undergone several improvements which, over time, have also involved the pit-boxes, the stands, the paddock area, some of the accesses to the track and the track itself, which was initially 3,488 meters (2.1 miles) long, and then extended to 4,060 meters (2.5 miles).

In preparation for the return of the World motorcycling championship, radical changes were made to the track: 

• the circuit direction was reversed from counter-clockwise to clockwise, with eight right-hand turns and five left-hand turns; 
• the circuit was extended to 4,180 meters (2.6 miles) in the area where it had already been extended in 1993; 
• the race track was widened to 14 meters (46 feet); 
• the chicane was eliminated near the corner of the Brutapela short circuit;
• two new series of stands were built, increasing track capacity to about 52,000 people.

Finally, in 2014, Santa Monica SpA called for tenders to modernize the track in order to make it both faster and safer. 

The project was engineered by Jarno Zaffelli, owner of Dromo Italian Applied Circuit Design and one of the world's leading experts in racetrack design and the creator, among others, of the Argentine "Termas de Rio Hondo" circuit. Execution of the work was assigned to Pesaresi Giuseppe SpA, a Rimini-based company that has specialized in building and road construction for more than 50 years. 

After just 14 days of work, the Pesaresi Giuseppe SpA team completely resurfaced the existing 4,226 meters (2.6 miles) of track using the Trimble PCS900 Paving Control System. This 3D machine control system for milling machines enabled the team to adapt the track according to the different sports and commercial requirements. This included two new tracks, which were added after the construction of two junctions. The new Brutapela Track is 986 meters (6 miles) long, located along the homonymous stand and occupies the Rio area and the Parco chicane with its seven corner; and the 3.5 Track is 3,211 meters (2 miles) long and has nine corners. But the feature that really strikes the eye is the enhanced visibility for those sitting in the stands on the straightaway, along the circuit, along the corner and on the lawn.

The Misano World Circuit now has much to offer. There are five tracks available: the two that were just constructed, the Arena Flat Track, which opened in early 2015 and is already a reference point for track racing enthusiasts and for great motorcycling champion training, the international track and the test track.

3D milling with Trimble PCS900 Paving Control System

The estimated work required approximately 80 workers and 50 vehicles to pave about 5,000 tons of tarmac. To achieve this, it was crucial to change the transverse and longitudinal slope gradients, eliminating all the bumps and altering the extent of the crown. 

Performing the work with absolute accuracy was essential. The use of 3D technology and positioning systems was explicitly requested in the technical specifications, to be used both during the design and milling stage.

Pesaresi Giuseppe chose SITECH Italia, Trimble’s distributor in Italy for Heavy Civil Construction products, as its technology partner. The SITECH Italia team served as a valuable consultant during the survey, design and final milling stages, thanks to the company’s experience and the multiple solutions that it offers for road paving.

PCS900: An “Intelligent” Milling Solution

The Trimble PCS900 system ensures milling with variable depth and slope, eliminating undulations and preparing an even substrate for the new surface. Using the PCS900 provides many benefits, which include: 

• a more even substrate and shorter construction period because trucks can move around the site more easily, without being obstructed by wires and stakes; 
• by milling only up to the required depth, the machine uses less fuel, and overall wear and tear on the equipment is reduced; 
• the need to remove less material also means fewer trucks are needed and costs to remove the materials are reduced; using less asphalt helps reduce costs further. 

The patented Trimble active tracking system technology ensures the total station is aligned with the active prism on board the machine, as well as providing millimeter control of the milling drum.

Milling at a constant depth typically meets the requirements of the technical specifications but does not solve road unevenness issues. Often the unevenness results in the re-creation of the longitudinal waves during paving. This led to the decision to use Trimble PCS900 on the milling machine. Trimble PCS900 is able to mill with variable depth and slope and completely eliminate the undulations. This allowed the contractor to prepare a perfectly even substrate for the new paved surface, which quickly resulted in reducing the amount of wasted material. 

For the initial surveying and subsequent milling operations, Pesaresi Giuseppe and the topographic service and civil engineering company Geo & Domus analyzed the existing conditions using a Trimble UX5 drone. This was followed by the installation of levelled curbstones every 150 meters, with millimeter accuracy. 

The entire circuit then underwent a millimeter level survey using three Trimble SPS930 robotic total stations, with one-second precision. This survey provided all the necessary details for the design phase, and allowed the contractor to produce the highly accurate 3D design for use on the milling machine.

The Trimble robotic total stations where then placed on the curbstones, while the 3D optimization project was loaded on the milling machine. Equipped with the Trimble PCS900 control system, the milling machine began to mill the asphalt surface using the 3D design and achieve millimeter level precision. Additionally using the Trimble Hot Swap feature, the contractor was able to transition between total stations along the length of the track without interruption to the milling operation. This ensured no additional bumps were added for machine stops and improved production, as the mill never has to be stopped to transition between total stations.

The resurfaced circuit took just 4 days to complete and was handed over to the clients on March 9, 2015. The final paved surface met both the completion date and technical requests specified in the design stage, and provides an impressive and updated venue for some of the most spectacular motorsports competitions in the world. 

As seen in MT - Rivista Italiana del Movimento Terra - April 2015