Heidelberg Materials has autonomously hauled more than two million tons of limestone at its Lake Bridgeport quarry in Texas, marking a North American first for a fully autonomous mixed-fleet quarry operation, the company said.
The milestone was achieved in less than eight months using an Autonomous Haulage System developed by Pronto, which enables trucks from different manufacturers to operate on a single platform. The fleet at the Texas site includes Caterpillar 775G rigid-frame trucks alongside Komatsu HD605-8 and HD605-10 models.
“True scalability in the aggregates industry requires the ability to automate the iron you already own,” said Anthony Levandowski, chief executive of Pronto. “By successfully running a mixed fleet of Cat and Komatsu trucks on Pronto AHS, we have proven that autonomy is no longer a ‘one-brand’ luxury.”
Unlike many autonomous mining systems, Pronto’s platform relies on a vision-only approach, using cameras and artificial intelligence rather than lidar, radar or fixed pre-mapping. The system allows trucks to adapt dynamically to changing loading and dumping locations, while lightweight transponders help coordinate autonomous and human-operated equipment.
See also: Pronto Secures Global Deal to Deploy Over 100 Autonomous Haul Trucks with Heidelberg Materials
Heidelberg Materials said the deployment has delivered efficiency and safety benefits while supporting broader operational goals. “Our partnership with Pronto not only contributes to enhancing efficiency and safety at our sites, but it also helps us address recruiting challenges while further accelerating our sustainability efforts,” said Scott Tipping, global director of the competence center for aggregates and asphalt.
Following the Lake Bridgeport results, Heidelberg Materials plans to expand autonomous haulage to more than 100 trucks across multiple operations in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, under a global agreement announced earlier this year.
