Tomás Cano and his Arocs Grounder 4042 AK slog away

The big red flags the workers use to direct the traffic are fluttering in the wind. Today there's a strong breeze near Albacete, a town in south-east Spain. From the cab of his Arocs Grounder 4042 AK, Tomás Cano has the very best possible view of the traffic. Still he waits patiently until the workers give him the signal to drive over to the other side of the construction site. "I've got 40 tonnes of aggregate on board. I'm not taking any risks," he says.

The red flag gives him the signal to go. Tomás steers his Arocs over to the end of the future Sur de Albacete bypass. He has only been working on this construction project for four months. The section is due to be completed in the middle of 2019. Tomás is part of the large team from the Excavaciones Pastor construction company which has been commissioned to do the job.

The colours of La Mancha.

The scenery is overwhelming. Excavations have revealed a layer of earth that reminds Tomás of a film classic: "It looks like the soil of Tara in 'Gone with the Wind'," he says, smiling.

The barren landscape with its glowing colours is typical for the La Mancha region. The panoramic view with its unique light and its pale-blue sky with little fluffy clouds looks like a painting by the famous Spanish painter Antonio López Torres.

After Tomás has offloaded the aggregate, a bulldozer approaches to flatten the ground. Tomás returns to load new material. In his rear-view mirror he can see the bulldozer distributing the huge pile of aggregate. Tomás wishes he could watch the sprinkler truck and the steamroller doing their job. But he is not allowed to interrupt the tightly timed work pace. On his way back, he has to wait again until the colleague with the red flag gives him the all-clear.

– Tomás Cano, trucker from Almadén in Spain

Four million cubic metres.

"This truck is a titan," says Tomás. With a loading volume of 17 cubic metres, the 6x6 drive, the reinforced parabolic springs and axles, and an extremely robust frame, plus the optimised High Performance Engine Brake, the Arocs Grounder 4042 is ideally suited for heavy work.

There are also excavators and site dumpers driving around on the eleven-kilometre construction site. The drivers greet each other with a quick wave; after all, they're concentrating hard on their work. The Sur de Albacete bypass is part of the A32 motorway.

"When you're doing this work, it's absolutely crucial to keep to the time limits," says Tomás. For the eleven-kilometre-long road, the workers and vehicles from Excavaciones Pastor have to shift about four million cubic metres of stone and earth.

Pure power.

Tomás has been working for the company for 25 years now. While he is working on this road construction site, he sleeps in Albacete from Monday to Friday. At the weekends, he goes home to his family in Almadén, a small town in the province of Ciudad Real. "I'm used to it," says Tomás. "I like my work, and that's why I take downsides like that in my stride."

The construction is now bathed in intensive orange light. Soon the sun will set. Tomás does his last round trip, then parks the Arocs and gets out. He watches contentedly as his colleagues gradually finish working.

Before he sets off to his accommodation, Tomás points to the vast Arocs. With a broad smile, he says: "You feel powerful up there in the cab."

Photos: Begoña Tremps