This MAN gets the mastic asphalt nice and hot!
A new MAN TGS 26.430 with a state-of-the-art, lightweight mastic asphalt boiler has been providing Sascha Bunsen Asphalt- und Straßenbau GmbH with temperature-controlled mastic asphalt in Cologne and the surrounding area of late.
The MAN TGS 26.430 BL at Sascha Bunsen Asphalt- und Straßenbau GmbH cooks its own soup, so to speak, by keeping the mastic asphalt that the company supplies for bridge and road construction as well as for screed for interior work at the right temperature. To this end, the Lion was equipped with a state-of-the-art, lightweight boiler by R. Kolberg GmbH, which is considered to be the market leader in the field of mastic asphalt boilers. A fact that managing director Sascha Bunsen attaches great importance to when selecting his machines. That’s precisely why he opted for the MAN TGS:
“I like working with vehicles and machines from market leaders, and it’s not without reason that MAN is one of them.”
Sascha Bunsen has been working in the road construction sector since 1993. “Ever since I learned the trade, I knew I would never do anything else,” he says. It seems only logical then that he founded his own company three years ago, operating in this line of work. The company has 20 employees and focusses entirely on the production and processing of mastic asphalt. The MAN TGS and its boiler play a central role in this:
“The boiler is loaded with mastic asphalt at a mixing plant in the morning. The temperature of the asphalt is already at 220 degrees at this point. It is then mixed continuously in the boiler with the aid of stirring arms and kept at a constant temperature of 220 degrees by a burner system,” says Sascha Bunsen, describing how the natural building material is handled. A total of 13 tonnes of the material can then be transported to the place of use in the railcar. The scope of delivery can be increased to 21 tonnes by including a trailer. Once on site, the mastic asphalt is poured into wheelbarrows via a chute and processed.
“The ideal truck for us!”
Sascha Bunsen chose the MAN TGS as the carrier vehicle for the mastic asphalt boiler because, in his opinion, it is the most suitable for the company’s operational requirements: “The vehicle is the perfect match for our task profile and is impressively reliable.” The MAN TGS is the second Lion in the company’s fleet, alongside an MAN TGS 26.360 with roll-off skip loader. Sascha Bunsen even feels a touch of regret that he doesn’t have a driving licence to be able to drive the MAN TGS himself. His driver Kevin Schultze, on the other hand, is all the more pleased that the boss has entrusted him with the new MAN. Most of the time he is out on the road with the MAN mastic asphalt vehicle in Cologne and the surrounding area and is very satisfied with the truck.
“The MAN TGS is top-notch,” says the 28-year-old, enthusiastically, “small and easy to manoeuvre, which is exactly what I need in a place like Cologne.” Kevin has been working at Sascha Bunsen’s company since 2019 and likes the day-to-day challenges of the job. He also likes the fact that the job is diverse: “We spend a lot of time on the road and my colleagues are like family to me.”
Sascha Bunsen would like to see more colleagues join the corporate family in the future. At the moment, however, he is finding it difficult to source the skilled personnel he needs to expand further.