We Americans love cars, and in turn, potholes are part and parcel of our infrastructure. They’re going to happen. But many towns and cities have a hard time keeping up with them, deploying repair crews only after someone pops a tire or busts a bumper and files a complaint. It takes manpower, and depending on where the pothole is, it can also be pretty dangerous for crews. A specialized work truck with a robotic sprayer arm might come in handy, then.
That’s why the Cimline P5 exists. It’s a one-person pothole-patching machine that debuted a few years back and is now making its way into government fleets. Most recently, the city of Akron, Ohio, acquired two of ’em, and they’re already being put to work.
Operating the P5 with DuraPatcher tech—what a name—is simple. Workers stay in the cab the whole time, controlling the sprayer arm with joysticks. Cimline boasts on its website about a “three-section boom and nozzle,” which presumably make for an accurate spray. Meanwhile, there’s a pressurized 300-gallon tank with an overnight electric heating blanket that allows work to be done first thing, even when it’s five degrees out. The provided tank can even hold 10 tons of patch material at a time.
A 74-horsepower engine that meets Tier 4 Final emissions standards helps spray 450 cubic feet of material per minute. Per the Akron Beacon Journal, it’s helping the city fix potholes in as little as two minutes. These fixes are longer-lasting than your typical patch job, too, with old-school repairs lasting only a season or so.
Cimline P5 One-Person Patcher with DuraPatcher Technology™
While Cimline doesn’t show any pricing estimates on its website, the Akron Beacon Journal report claims the trucks are about $300,000 apiece. For that, you get the one-man DuraPatcher system that’s attached to an Isuzu chassis with an Allison 2500 six-speed transmission. (The above demo shows a cabover Kenworth, but still.) Cimline says they have a 12,000-pound front I-beam with a 21,000-pound rear axle, as well as a 5.57 axle ratio. The official GVW is 33,000 pounds.
I can certainly see something like this coming in handy pretty much everywhere. Of course, not every municipality has the cash to buy one, but it’s a productivity and safety boon for any that can afford it. As roads begin to thaw across the northern states and parts of the Midwest, I imagine many a road crew will see this machine and wish they had one.
Heck, I kind of do, and I don’t even have a use for one.
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#Truck #Spray #Pothole #Minutes
