A bottom-dump trailer with clamshell gates under the hopper, opened by the driver while rolling forward to lay mix in a windrow on the grade. The paver cannot take a belly dump directly; a windrow elevator or a material transfer vehicle picks the row up and feeds the paver. Belly dumps carry big loads and unload fast, which suits long highway runs, but the windrow cools quickly in wind.
Three belly dumps in a row, open the gates a little less, the windrow's spilling over onto the joint.
Also heard as
- bottom dump
- belly
Related terms
Windrow
A continuous row of hot mix dumped on the road ahead of the paver, usually by belly-dump trailers.
MTV
Material transfer vehicle: a machine between the trucks and the paver that remixes hot mix and feeds it nonstop.
End dump
A dump truck or trailer that raises its bed and unloads out the tailgate, the standard way to feed a paver.