Features

An EC-funded project aims to coordinate research on essential tyre/road interaction parameters. A competition will help raise awareness of the project Drivers need grip between the tyres and the road to accelerate, decelerate or change the direction of a moving road vehicle. Grip is provided by the skid resistance properties of the road surface in combination with the friction characteristics of the tyre. This combination is critical for safe driving, and many European countries have investigated the corre

Asia Pacific's largest construction machinery exhibition will be held in the Chinese capital China and its neighbouring countries (the new 'target markets') are developing at a very fast pace. The construction machinery market in this area has gradually become the most focused in the world, and in 2007 the sales volume of construction machinery was over 450,000 units. Over the next 10-15 years, construction of large-scale infrastructure will carry on, including projects of national high-speed railway networ

Foamed bitumen is a versatile and cost-effective tool in recycling roads - Mike Woof reports Wirtgen hopes to capitalise on the growing demand for materials recycling and its range of solutions for this sector has expanded considerably in recent times. The firm has been taking advantage of further developments in foamed bitumen technology to offer an array of cost-effective road repair solutions. The range allows this material to be used in array of cold recycling applications and Wirtgen also offers labora

With a new wave of exhaust emission regulations coming shortly, engine manufacturers are well on track to develop new solutions as Mike Woof reports A wave of technological advances has made the current generation of diesels the cleanest industrial engines ever produced. Driven by tightening controls on emissions, manufacturers have had to develop an array of innovative solutions that will help cut particulate and NOx being emitted from the tailpipe. When the phased reduction in exhaust emissions was first

The first new mobile screen to be launched under the Sandvik name, rather than the Fintec or Extec brands, is the heavy duty tracked QE440 scalping screen. The QE440 was displayed in a live demonstration at a customer event in the UK this summer to launch the newly unified branding and new machine colours. During the demonstration, customers had a chance to view other mobile crushing and screening units in the Sandvik range, as well as the new BR2577 hydraulic breaker.

Following a trial of Metso Minerals' Nordberg Plant Management System at Hanson Aggregates' Ystrad Meurig Quarry, UK, the software has now been installed on a further six mobile machines at Lithalun Quarry. Metso installed the remote control system on the Lokotrack LT300HP for Hanson last year to allow the company to test the advantages of the wireless communication capabilities. The system has now been extended to the LT110 primary crusher, another LT300HP and its two ST358 and ST620 mobile screens.

Italian customer Marocca Group is using an Indeco HP18000 hydraulic breaker (the heaviest hydraulic breaker on the market at present) for primary demolition at a limestone quarry in Anagni, close to capital Rome. The 40ha quarry produces high grade limestone in 21 different sizes to meet an array of construction needs, and the bespoke fully automated crushing and screening plant is able to process over 500m³/hour of rock. By using the HP18000 in a primary winning application, Marocca Group has also been abl

US-based BedRock Software has announced the release of a new version of its AggFlow software package that adds the capability to simulate the operation of mobile crushing and screening plant. The company has initially worked with Powerscreen's line of crushing and screening equipment but other manufacturers' data will be added. "As we build our track-mounted data library this will be an important and revolutionary development for the industry," said BedRock president Bryan Lewis. The AggFlow system for fix

Ever tightening aggregate specifications for road surfacing materials is driving more quarries to wash their materials. Claire Symes looks at the technology and the implications for the industry Stricter aggregates specifications for both asphalt and concrete surfacing materials and the need to make the best use of all extracted material is driving greater use of washing equipment in the quarrying industry. But the latest washing and recycling technology means that this growth does not have to significantly

There are various ways of building a tunnel, and for excavation jobs many contractors prefer to use versions of standard machines that have instead been converted to suit the confines of tunnelling applications. Some contractors opt to adapt their own units and with ventilation being an issue in underground work, engine emissions are a key focus when adapting machines. Exhaust filters and other after treatment solutions are usually required and there are an array of off-the-shelf packages available as well

With traffic volumes increasing around the world, many existing road links will need to be upgraded or replaced in coming years The need for new road tunnels is particularly intense in many dense urban areas, due to environmental requirements that mean new road links will have to be installed underground. However, improving existing road tunnel links is providing a very large part of the business for this specialised construction segment at present.

Trimble is offering a new version of its Trimble GCS900 grade control system designed for use with milling machines. The new package allows contractors using planers for road repairs to achieve material savings and increased road smoothness during the ensuing paving operation. By controlling the cutting depth of a milling machine accurately, a contractor is less likely to make an overcut in the areas being repaired and as a result, is less likely to require additional asphalt or concrete when paving the new

Automatic 3D machine guidance is a highly sophisticated area and a high level of expertise is often required to ensure applications of the advanced technologies work as desired. Fugro is a specialist firm that has gained experience using 3D guidance tools over many years and for certain tricky projects, Hexagon, the parent of Leica Geosystems, has turned to Fugro for assistance. For one difficult job in particular, Fugro's specialists were brought in at the request of an Icelandic contractor. The project ca

Topcon says that its new IP-S2 package combines GNNS positioning capabilities with inertial sensors, while the firm also has a solution for customers wanting to mix and match receiver components. The IP-S2 is a vehicle-mounted, mobile 3D tool that offers precision mapping and surveying capabilities. The package collects data using 3D laser scanners, LIDAR, and/or cameras, and this is then integrated, time-stamped and geo-referenced. The customer can use this assembled data to combine LIDAR point cloud and d

Integrating Caterpillar's latest machine guidance and asset management tools offers efficiency gains for contractors in a competitive market. Mike Woof reports Caterpillar has been a leader in the development of GPS machine control systems through its partnership with Trimble. The manufacturer has rolled out a series of AccuGrade packages for various machines in its line-up, starting with the dozers and graders and then spreading to other machines such as scrapers, excavators and soil compactors. Caterpilla