Rollers with intelligent compaction telematics-based features are making a safety difference on night projects. Bryce Wuori, owner of Wuori Technology Consulting, Bismarck, North Dakota, helps contractors solve paving problems. “We now connect the [Caterpillar 460] rollers so they actually talk to each other,” Wuori says. “They can see each other on [their in-cab] screens. They can see what each roller has done, and it allows the contractor in the dark to see their last rollout pattern, where they’ve been, and their temperatures.”

It also gives valuable real-time positioning of compactors for safety. “For the safety side of things, to be able to see where they’re running when they’re that close to where the other rollers are, it can prevent an accident,” Wuori says. “In real time they can see that the roller behind them is moving away from them and not toward them, and that he’s going to roll out, and he’s fine.

“Any projects that we bid now as a contractor, if it requires night paving, we automatically put intelligent compaction in it,” Wuori says. “It’s just standard for safety and to get a more consistent mat [when] you’re paving in the dark. It’s hard to pay attention in the dark, too; you’re tired, working night shifts. It just it helps significantly with roller operators.”