Wirtgen W 220 Fi Cold Milling Machine Helps Remove Interstate Road Surface in Two Passes

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K-Five Construction recently used a Wirtgen W 220 Fi cold planer to remove the entire surface of an Interstate 55 on-ramp and off-ramp in Bolingbrook, Illinois, in just two passes. (Photo courtesy of Wirtgen Group.)

Two passes are all it took a Wirtgen W 220 Fi large milling machine to remove 18.1 inches (46 centimeters) of the road surface of an on-ramp and off-ramp as part of a rehabilitation project to Interstate 55 in Bolingbrook, Illinois, just southwest of Chicago. Pivotal in the recent project, overseen by K-Five Construction, was that it could be completed cost-effectively and with maximum productivity and efficiency. Wirtgen says this was achieved thanks to the company’s Mill Assist machine control system in conjunction with the W 220 Fi’s Eco mode.

Work Smarter

The 610-horsepower (455-kilowatt) W 200 Fi belongs to Wirtgen’s large milling machine lineup that extends to the 1,010-hp (753-kW) W 250 Fi. Along with a Tier 4 Final engine, the 31-ton (28.1-metric-ton) W 220 Fi falls in between, providing a 7.3-foot (2.2-meter) milling width and 13-in. (33-cm) maximum milling depth. The series’ considerable muscle works hand-in-hand with a suite of technologies including Mill Assist.

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To allocate machine power reserved for the W 220 Fi’s various components, the W 220 Fi used Wirtgen’s Mill Assist technology, which dynamically controls the milling machine’s operating point. (Photo courtesy of Wirtgen Group.)

Mill Assist automatically controls the W 220 Fi’s two-speed Dual Shift powershift transmission and works with the diesel engine to increase and decrease milling drum speeds. In Eco mode, Mill Assist also determines and selects the operating settings that offer the most favorable fuel and pick consumption. Also onboard are the Level Pro Active leveling system and the Wirtgen Performance Tracker, which determines milling performance and volume and consumption rates.

“Horsepower To The Pavement”

K-Five Construction equipped the W 220 Fi with an 8.2-ft. (2.5-m) milling drum with 196 picks. Mark Lindbloom, K-Five’s head of operations, says the W 220 Fi’s drive concept was also key to purchasing the machine. “The two-speed powershift transmission was very appealing to us,” he says. “It puts the horsepower to the pavement on long sections of road [and at smaller milling depths] as well as when working at larger milling depths.” That enables using lower milling drum speeds, which means less fuel consumption and pick wear and tear. 

Source: Wirtgen Group