Heidelberg autonomous haul trucks reach milestone at Texas quarry

Heidelberg Materials North America’s autonomous fleet at its Lacke Bridgeport Quarry in Texas has hauled more than 2 million tons of limestone in eight months.

The German firm with North American headquarters in Irving, Texas, says the achievement represents a significant milestone in its journey to lead the building materials industry in digitalization.

“We are excited to mark this important milestone at our Lake Bridgeport Quarry,” Heidlberg Materials North America President and CEO Chris Ward says. “The successful deployment of Pronto’s AHS technology at Lake Bridgeport showcases our strong commitment to leveraging innovative and scalable solutions at our operations that contribute to enhancing efficiency and safety while also addressing the recruiting challenges we face at many of our operations across North America.”

Heidelberg deployed a mixed fleet of original equipment haul trucks at the Lake Bridgeport Quarry following a successful pilot project in 2023 leveraging artificial intelligence-powered technology.

Building on this achievement, Heidelberg says it will continue to expand autonomous haulage to more than a dozen sites in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

The project demonstrates how digital technology can improve efficiency, Heidelberg says. The fleet also enhances safety and environmental performance while providing real-time data to drive operational excellence and increase productivity.

According to Heidelberg, the transition to autonomous hauling also helped the Lake Bridgeport management team solve the increasingly difficult challenge of recruiting skilled haul truck operators at the site, a challenge shared across the aggregates sector.