Asphalt milling, paving & compaction

MOBA Mobile Automation says that its PAVE-IR system is designed to improve paving by offering a new, non-destructive method for detecting thermal segregation in real time. Segregation is a leading cause of premature failure in asphalt roads and the system uses infrared sensors to produce a thermal profile for the entire project. PAVE-IR is said to deliver real-time QC/QA data to the operator on a colour touch screen and stores the files for additional analysis in the office. The complete job is documented w

Ireland's Ministry of Transport is focussing on road maintenance rather than building new links at present. With the country’s economy still struggling under a burden of debt, finances are limited. Around 30 road maintenance projects are planned to be carried out in in Ireland during 2012. The Irish Government intends to invest around €200 million/year on road maintenance until its finances improve. New road projects are being delayed and will be held back until 2016 or 2017.

Following one of the coldest winters in recent memory, Britain’s roads have stacked up an estimated £10 billion (€11.5 billion) repair bill just for potholes. These are caused by the freeze/thaw cycle: water seeps into cracks in the road surface, expands when frozen and then breaks up when it thaws. It has been estimated that in Britain there is at least one pothole for every 110m (sometimes many more) and that it will take at least 15 years to fix the problem.

Questions are being asked over the construction of a new section of the A1 autobahn in Germany. The highway stretch is being scrutinised due to surface failures and lies close to the city of Bremen but has been open for less than three months.

More than 500 million people worldwide watched the first Formula 1 motor race in India's history. The drivers were thrilled by the new asphalt circuit with its numerous bends and the peripheral area around the new race track at Greater Noida near the capital New Delhi, which were built by machinery from German company Vögele (a member of the Wirtgen Group).

Malta National Laboratory (MNL) has asked the UK’s TRL to help it establish a construction materials testing facility. This will allow MNL to become an independent test house on the island, and it will then be able to undertake testing of road materials to the required international standards. A team of TRL experts with extensive knowledge of civil engineering materials testing and pavement materials technology and design, as well as large-scale project management skills, will deliver the project in two p