The World Cup finals start in Brazil on 12 June 2014. The first match – between Brazil and Croatia – will take place in the Arena de São Paulo, in the Itaquera district in the eastern part of the city. The stadium's timely completion has been a highly popular subject of speculation.

In contrast, the international fans do not seem to have spared much thought for whether transport conditions and the state of the roads will let them arrive at the stadium in time to see the match. Ensuring that this is indeed the case is a key task at all the Brazilian locations.

São Paulo city and road building contractors have launched a major infrastructure programme specifically for this purpose. The Raposo Tavares (SP-270) motorway connecting the federal state of Mato Grosso du Sul with Sao Paulo was one of those in need of repair.

Fremix Engenharia e Comércio Ltda. placed its entire trust in the tried-and tested technologies of the Wirtgen Group. Valmir Bonfim, Site Manager for Fremix, decided to use a Wirtgen cold milling machine W 200 with FCS super-fine milling drum LA 6x2 for the job.

Unlike standard milling drums, super-fine milling drums have a considerably smaller tool spacing. As a result, they are fitted with considerably more cutting tools: while a standard milling drum has 168 cutting tools, the LA 6x2 is fitted with a total of 672 cutting tools.

The "Flexible Cutter System" or FCS for short allows the milling drum to be changed quickly and easily. The milling drums on these cold milling machines can be accessed from the side and are simple to remove. It is lowered onto a drum carriage for easy withdrawal from the housing. The new drum is installed just as easily.

Quick tool changes allow the owner to use the machine for a whole variety of jobs. Several FCS drums with different working widths and tool spacings are available for the W 200. A drum change takes no more than two hours and the cold milling machine is transformed from a standard machine to a super-fine milling machine. The FCS greatly increases flexibility, creating a host of new potential uses and considerably boosting the machine's cost-efficiency.

The interaction between key components – diesel engine, travel drive, milling drum drive and belt drive, water spray system and height adjustment – is centrally managed by Wirtgen's intelligent WIDRIVE machine control system. In this way, WIDRIVE automates many functions which would normally be performed manually by the operator, thus permitting fuel-saving, environmentally-friendly milling operations.

LEVEL PRO supplies information on the levelling process and allows the operator to control the milling depth without leaving his platform. Intuitive, ergonomically designed operation with user-friendly graphic displays and function keys are hallmarks of the system. A controller analyses the data from various plug-in sensors, controls the machine's height adjustment and transmits the corresponding data to the control console. Outstanding milled results are constantly assured by the software with optimized control characteristic.

The proprietary PTS system developed by Wirtgen guarantees precise adherence to the set working depth while relieving the operator to the greatest possible extent. PTS stands for "parallel to surface" and automatically ensures that the machine is dynamically aligned parallel to the road surface.

The front and rear crawler tracks are uniformly lowered in parallel. As part of the PTS system, a 4-fold full-floating axle immediately compensates any unevenness on the right and left, thus ensuring automatic alignment of the machine at right angles to the direction of travel. PTS also includes an automatic backup function for resuming at the required milling depth. In this way, machine operation is greatly simplified while maintaining the high levelling quality.

Intelligent speed control ISC comprises three basic functions:

• Electronic traction control
• Automatic adjustment of the speed of individual crawler tracks in bends
• Optimized rate of advance

Traction control by the ISC minimizes the extent to which individual crawler tracks slip in tough conditions and guarantees optimum traction. What's more, ISC electronically adjusts the speed of the inner and outer crawler tracks in bends, thus reducing wear on the crawler shoes. ISC also adjusts the machine's advance rate to optimize utilization of the engine power.

Valmir Bonfim, Site Manager for Fremix, is more than happy with his cold milling machine's performance: "The W 200 from Wirtgen delivered a performance that surpassed our expectations. We were able to complete the project well before the contractual deadline and release the job site for other work.

Due to its compact size and low weight, the W 200 can easily be transported directly to the next job site." Once there, it is swiftly fitted with a standard milling drum thanks to FCS, enabling it to remove the asphalt pavement to a depth of 5 cm over an area of 21,320 m². Finishing the roadway is the job of Willian Souza Azevedo and his asphalt paving team.

The concessionnaire is also overjoyed: awarding the contract to Fremix ensured rapid completion of the construction work. Fans from the western fringes and neighbouring countries – Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile – can now reach the stadiums in São Paulo in good time to cheer on their respective teams.