Features

Equipment from XCMG has played an important role in the excavation of a new tunnel link underneath the Micang Mountain in China. The project to build the right-hand bore for the Micang Mountain tunnel on the Sichuan-Shaanxi Expressway has taken 54 months to complete. The tunnel was needed as the Micang Mountain has been a barrier to direct transportation at the junction of Hanzhong and Bazhong. This has blocked the major transport route between Sichuan and Shaanxi, preventing traffic flows across the reg

Every year 186,300 children die from road traffic crashes around the world. That is more than 500 children every day. Road traffic injury ranks among the top four causes of death for all children over the age of five years. According to data reported by the Moroccan Comité national de prévention des accidents de la circulation (CNPAC), young people below the age of 14 represent 15% of all the deaths on Moroccan roads and the majority of these are pedestrians. Many of these fatalities are amongst children

RoadResource.org as a go-to website for surfacing information is now live When RoadResouce.org went live – quietly - in July it was the end of two years of hard work by three major US associations for pavement preservation. But there was no grand party or ceremonial pushing of the “go live” button, says Doug Hogue, vice president and general manager of VSS Macropaver. “For all of us in the industry July is a busy period that left little time to celebrate on the opening day,” says the 51-year-old chartere

Specialised swale construction featured in Northern England recently UK contractor Balfour Beatty examined different methods for building swales along the Norwich Northern Distributor Road near the English city of Norwich. Balfour decided to trial specialised road-widening machines, specially configured excavator buckets and modified compaction equipment. Excavators and dump trucks prepared the area for placement of sub-base material. The swale areas were constructed using both conventional methods as wel

Advances in drive technology are being seen from several key firms as new generation, compact electric systems begin entering the market - Mike Woof writes Major innovations in machine systems are being seen in the construction equipment sector. Several manufacturers are hedging their bets with regard to drive technology and introducing electric drive machines, which will suit use in urban ultra-low emission zones. Wacker Neuson has developed an array of electric machines in recent years including a numbe

Intelligent compaction and infrared scanning technologies have been used to improve construction quality The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) carried out a year-long project throughout 2017 to demonstrate the use of intelligent compaction (IC), infrared scanning (IR), and Veta software to improve pavement construction operations. “We were looking for ways to assess quality in asphalt projects,” said Bill Stone, research administrator at MoDOT. “We are working towards better pavements that l

Aggregates Industries recently lightened the load for the 73m-long bow string truss Acton Swing Bridge in England. When opened in 1933, it was the first floating swing bridge in the UK – floating on a pontoon. The 84-year-old bridge, which is cared for by the Canal & River Trust charity, carries the busy A49 road over the River Weaver Navigation, in the county of Cheshire. A recent €1.7 million complete refurbishment included strengthening works to the underside of the bridge as well as improvements to its