We recently completed two successful ‘paver laid’ base course trials.

Base course is the layer of pavement underneath the final seal when building a road. Traditionally, the base course is laid with a grader and a water cart. The new process uses a pugmill machine to mix granite or basalt with water, which is then fed into a paving machine to place the base course. The base course is then compacted with a roller to achieve the required density and level.

Using a paving machine to lay base course is an innovative solution that offers better value for money, and provides a superior finish when compared to traditional methods.



“Using a paver to lay crushed rock base course is a robust, repeatable, and more reliable process. We’re really happy with how the trials have gone and are looking to commence paving on the project at the end of January 2023”, said Noel, Senior Pavements Engineer for the South West Gateway Alliance.

Although it has been used before in Western Australia, this solution hasn’t been implemented at scale as it will be on BORR. The crushed rock base course will be used for paving on the main northbound and southbound carriageways across the majority of the BORR alignment.

The results of the trials were a testament to the collaboration between the South West Gateway Alliance, Main Roads Materials Engineering branch, and subcontractors including WML, Hanson Australia, Kee Group and Independent Quality Certifiers.