Features

A new highway is proving an economic lifeline for the tiny country of Kosovo – Mike Woof reports. Road projects in Europe rarely meet such widespread public approval and support as the new Route 7 highway being built in the new Balkan state of Kosovo. The first sections of the new road opened to traffic in November 2011, with locals turning out in large numbers to celebrate the event. The official opening was carried out by the country’s prime minister Hashim Thaçi, president Atifete Jahjaga, and members of

In Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England, some residents are reported to be so fed-up of waiting for traffic lines to be painted on roads by the local county council that they are threatening to do it themselves. Staffordshire County Council highways bosses say they can only take on four new traffic measure projects a year and have a waiting list stretching to 2028. Media outlets in the county report that the local authority currently has more than 70 requests from all over Stafford borough

Chinese firms are looking to develop overseas sales but are using very different strategies – Mike Woof reports. Aggressive expansion plans will see Chinese manufacturers boosting overseas sales in coming years. These companies are developing bigger sales profiles around the world, particularly in emergent markets such as Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. It is worth noting too that Chinese products continue to gain in terms of quality and performance. For LiuGong, Sany, Shantui, XCMG and Zoomlion

VSS Macropaver has scored sales for three of its slurry paving machines in Mexico. The first and second unit have already been delivered and the third will be supplied shortly. These recent deals reflect an increasing market for VSS right across Latin America. The company has now established a new dealer in Peru and the firm is well established in the road paving market, as it is already a dealer for Wirtgen, which the VSS team see as a complimentary product range.

Several aspects factor into choosing the proper concrete dowel drill - Randy Stevens. The concrete paving industry has seen significant changes to dowel drilling equipment over the years. Many years ago only hand-held models existed and when the first hydraulic drills were launched over 30 years ago, these increased production and reduced labour needs. Since that time pneumatic drills, have come to market and these are driven by air compressors, which are common on many worksites while the units also have l