In celebration of 50 years in the compaction industry, Bomag introduced a dozen new products at ConExpo in Las Vegas earlier this month. The company was started in a timber yard garage in Boppard, Germany. Noticing that the single-drum rollers of the era created a bow wave in the soil, company founders Karl Heinz Schwamborn and Benno Kaltenegger developed a double vibration combined with all-drum drive.

Schwamborn and Kaltenegger formed Bopparder Maschinenbau-Gessellschaft, the company now known as Bomag. Its first product was the BW 60, the first hand-guided double-vibratory roller. Five years later, Bomag introduced the BW 200, the first ride-on machine with double-vibration technology, the company says.

This year Bomag unveiled the BC462EB, a new soil compactor with four-wheel hydrostatic drive and a 255-hp water-cooled Deutz diesel engine, with a sealed frame design to keep jobsite materials from entering the frame or engine compartment, while protecting drive-train components. It also has a scraper bar system designed to keep the wheels free of dirt. The unit is designed for highways, bridges, dams and other projects.
Bomag also re-designed its 66- and 78-inch tandem drum rollers to offer improved operator ergonomics and controls. The new BW266Ad-4 has a maximum centrifugal force of 32,800 pounds, while the BW278AD-4 has a maximum centrifugal force of 37,100 pounds. Both feature a designed cockpit with a sliding swivel seat for improved operator comfort and visibility and reduced fatigue.

Bomag’s 47-inch single-drum vibratory rollers were re-designed for the rental market specifically. The BW 124-40 series rollers — a smooth drum roller and a padfoot roller — have optional leveling blades for added versatility. With high centrifugal force and high amplitude, the rollers effectively compact granular and mixed soils as well as semi-cohesive and cohesive materials. No-spin rear differentials and standard drum drive are designed to achieve maximum gradeability.

This year Bomag also introduced a new recycler/stabilizer (the MPH125); new cold planer milling machines (the BM 2000/50 and BM 2000/60); redesigned 66-inch single-drum rollers (the BW 177D-40 and BW177DH-40); a new series of reversible plates (the BPR25/40 series); a new self-propelled asphalt paver (the BF6615) and more.