Roads & Infrastructure speaks to Secmair, a French designer and manufacturer of road maintenance equipment, about the company’s latest products to hit the Australian road market.
Chip-sealers revolutionised road maintenance, helping workers to spread aggregate and spray a binder at the same time, evenly and efficiently. In 1983, Secmair created its very first chip-sealer.
After 25 years of growth, Secmair joined the Fayat group at the end of 2008. The company now has over 130 staff and eight different machine types. With its main headquarters based in French town Cossé-le-Vivien, the company has an extended network, with other bases in Germany, Australia and the US.
As specialised designer of road maintenance equipment globally, Secmair is increasingly moving into the Australian and New Zealand markets.
David Redelsperger is the Secmair Area Sales Manager for Australia and New Zealand based in Melbourne. He says the company is excited to promote its capabilities down under.
“Our innovation, quality and design services have been the keys to the company’s success for over a century and we want to bring this to Australia,” Mr. Redelsperger says.
Complete control over its production processes enables Secmair machines to be designed specifically for projects, according to the different needs of its customers such as various application types and the desired daily output.
Secmair have realised the importance of offering a new range of machines in Australia for the diverse array of construction work currently underway.
A report released in early 2019 by the National Roads and Motorists Association in Australia revealed a $2.2 billion backlog in funding required by councils to maintain local roads across NSW alone.
An infrastructure funding boom, coupled with a maintenance backlog, prompts the need for adaptable machinery to get jobs done on time and on budget.
The company has identified its machines as a good option to supply to maintenance work throughout Australia and will use its ability to make premium machines within a performance package as an advantage.
Sprayers, chip-sealers, chip-spreaders, emulsion tanks, pothole repairers, crack-sealers and micro-surfacing or slurry machines are just some of Secmair’s equipment range.
“When we create machines at Secmair, everything from manufacturing the machine to developing the software happens with us, designed from our engineering office for specific customer needs,” Mr. Redelsperger says.
The first chip-sealer Secmair created was designed for patch repair. There are now nearly 1000 Secmair chip-sealers operating around the world performing wide road chip-sealing, tack coats and patch repair.
Secmair has also recently designed and manufactured a chip-spreader – known as the Kangaroo – that moves forward to provide a solution to the emerging needs of the Australian road maintenance industry.
Using existing technology from its well-known chip-sealer, the company were able to combine a conveyor belt and spreader box to enable aggregates to be sprayed while moving forward.
Alongside chip-sealers and chip-spreaders, Secmair also has a complete range of sprayers, offering its premium model Edensprayer, which accurately distributes any kind of binder through a fully telescopic spray bar.
“With a short overhang and wheel base, the Edensprayer can move around sites with ease,” Mr. Redelsperger says.
Designed with telescopic capabilities, most Secmair spreaders are able to be used on both large and small road construction sites.
Secmair also offers a new range of compact equipment. CEPIA, Secmair’s smallest machine to both lay hot mix asphalt and spread aggregate, arrived in Australia last month. This is one of the company’s newest releases in this product segment.
Intended for lighter, municipal repair works, the machine was created to work in a similar fashion to a wheelbarrow and is self-propelled.
“There is no need for a power supply with this machine. It is simply directed by a worker around site and the hydraulic controls and chip spreading width can be adjusted while working,” Mr. Redelsperger says.
To offer its machines and service support nationwide the company partnered with Construction Equipment Australia (CEA).
Mr. Redelsperger is also trained to assist customers for projects on the ground in Australia or New Zealand.
He recently travelled to New Zealand to aid Downer in commissioning a new batch of Secmair equipment. This was the third recent arrival of Secmair equipment in the country.
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