R.L. Brink Corp., Quincy, Ill., has become one of the premier contractors in the state because of its meticulous attention to detail and doing things right. And Brink learned the right equipment makes the job go right.

For example, Brink's new, state-of-the-art, totally enclosed, environmentally friendly hot mix asphalt plant just north of historic Quincy was the subject of a recent major article in a leading trade magazine (see Contractor Expands Inward, Asphalt Contractor, January 2000, pages 12-14).

Brink applies the same philosophy to its mobile equipment as well. Owner Ronald L. Brink, and his partner, daughter Julie A. Brink, have traveled to Europe to trade shows and beyond to familiarize themselves with new technology before their competitors can.

Driving Brink's search for new technology is the lack of skilled labor, and the leverage that technology brings to optimizing labor resources. Brink got into the asphalt business relatively recently, in the mid-1990s, and as such brought no preconceptions into the fray.

"To enter into the asphalt business, with all-new plant and equipment, we had to be as sharp as we could," said Julie Brink. "It forced us to look at technology and competitive ideas to reduce labor costs."

As a result they have standardized their asphalt compaction equipment with Hamm products. "We've been able to keep our roller train tighter, keeping our labor costs down," she said. "We're continually looking at new ideas with Hamm products that will reduce our labor costs. There is so much emphasis on quality and mat levelness and smoothness these days, we need to provide our people with the best equipment possible to do their jobs best."

 Among Brink's Hamm products are the asphalt compactor models DB 8K, a new HD 110, an HD 10, an HD 12, and soil stabilization Model 2250. Julie Brink worked hard to get her Hamm rollers certified by the Illinois DOT.

"In past times, the roller train had three rollers, a double-steel on front and back, with a pneumatic in the middle," she said. "We noticed that the DB 8K was half steel, half pneumatic, and wondered if there wasn't a reason why it could not substitute for the intermediate roller." They were able to get the train reduced to two rollers, saving time and money.

Overriding all of this is the general movement toward and end spec in Illinois and in other states. "The end result is you have to have density down pat," she said. "How you choose to get there is your choice because the state is allowing more flexibility."

The Hamm rollers work for her to the end spec because of their superior performance. "One reason they're so good is that they get compaction fairly easily," Julie Brink said. "We've had tremendous success doing that. They have great flexibility with the high frequency vs. the low frequency. They enable you to fine-tune that more than the other rollers."

The ability to get quick compaction pays off with Superpave mixes as well, such as the one placed at a major intersection of Broadway (Ill. 104) in Quincy in October.

"The Hamm people are excellent people," Ronald Brink said. "The engineering is good. We're amazed that there are not more Hamm rollers in this country, but I believe it to be a distribution problem."