Features

Peter Harrop, chairman of independent research and consultancy IDTechEx, considers arguments in favour of solar roads. Nowadays a major trend is the move to off-grid clean energy created by “energy harvesting” to produce electricity where it is needed. This is more controllable and increasingly at lower cost than grid power or diesel gensets, cleaner and often less subject to interruption. It is taking new forms as revealed in the IDTechEx Research report, “High Power Energy Harvesting 2016-2026”.

Italian road safety firm Industry AMS has developed and patented high efficiency energy absorption systems provided with special metallic honeycomb panels. The SMA Crash Cushion was certified to the European Standard EN1317. It also tested successively against the US standard NCHRP in a frontal impact with a pickup truck provided with an anthropomorphic traffic device - and obtained the best Euro NCAP score.

Peter Harrop, chairman of independent research and consultancy IDTechEx, considers arguments in favour of solar roads Nowadays a major trend is the move to off-grid clean energy created by “energy harvesting” to produce electricity where it is needed. This is more controllable and increasingly at lower cost than grid power or diesel gensets, cleaner, and often less subject to interruption. It is taking new forms as revealed in the IDTechEx Research report, “High Power Energy Harvesting 2016-2026”.

Peter Harrop, chairman of independent research and consultancy IDTechEx, considers arguments in favour of solar roads Nowadays a major trend is the move to off-grid clean energy created by “energy harvesting” to produce electricity where it is needed. This is more controllable and increasingly at lower cost than grid power or diesel gensets, cleaner, and often less subject to interruption. It is taking new forms as revealed in the IDTechEx Research report, “High Power Energy Harvesting 2016-2026”.

Despite clear industry guidelines published over a decade ago and revised in 2015, level measurement experts Hycontrol still regularly encounter asphalt plants with insufficient safety protocols for preventing spills of hot bitumen. Introduction – Bitumen Storage in the UK Recently-issued information from Eurobitume UK has reinforced the need for stringent safety precautions on sites with bitumen storage facilities; key amongst them being the implementation of a robust level monitoring and alarm system (‘Si

Limited public budgets means that policymakers today, more than ever, need to able to make decisions that are cost-effective and can bring about the highest return in terms of road safety gains Policymakers put great emphasis on making informed decisions to ensure that the policies decided upon are backed up by relevant studies and research. While there are hundreds or even thousands of relevant studies in the field of road safety, these are dispersed across different countries without any interconnection b

This month’s round-up looks at new equipment from a number of manufacturers and a new bitumen testing service in the UK from global player Intertek - Kristina Smith reports CONTROLS GROUP has unveiled new machines from each of its specialist divisions, including a new triaxial tester from its soil mechanics arm Wykham Farrance; an E-modulus tester from its concrete testing division; and an asphalt binder analyser from PAVELAB SYSTEMS, its asphalt division. TRITECH is the result of 50 years of developm

New generation asphalt plants offer key benefits such as being more versatile, more mobile and able to cope with greater quantities of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) - Mike Woof writes Several asphalt plant manufacturers are introducing new technologies for 2016. Key developments focus on issues such as the use of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) and plant mobility, as well as improved mix control. Output quality has been improved by the latest technology, which can allow for much higher quantities of RA

The new CEO of Pilosio, Johann Strunz, has some ambitious expansion plans for the euro45m-turnover company. The former managing director of Doka’s Austrian business plans to decentralise the Italian formwork and falsework specialist, with hubs in various regions in addition to its Italian headquarters. “We are moving from being a head-quartered company to a decentralised structure,” said Strunz. “We want to give power to the markets. They will decide on the pace and the headquarters will define the quali

This year’s bauma provides the perfect opportunity for bitumen technology firm Massenza to promote its new relationship with Strassmeyer, a Polish-based company which makes equipment for road repair and maintenance. Massenza became the majority shareholder in Strassmeyer at the end of last year, adding a complimentary range of plant to Massenza’s established range of bitumen handling equipment. “We are now starting to promote the brand through our network of agents which covers almost 100 countries in th

A job site in the Southern African nation of Lesotho represents one of the most extreme and challenging projects to some key Italian firms of the last 10 years. The project was certainly different from the norm It involves building a road in the Lesotho Mountains, some 200km from the capital Maseru, with the work being carried out by the Cooperative of Building and Cement workers from Ravenna (CMC). CMC, which has ranked among Marini's clients for many years now, is involved in the construction of a

Caterpillar may be on its financial back foot, but a recent event showed the company has a vision far beyond this or the next financial year – David Arminas reports. Many construction machinery manufacturers have some data collection and analysis systems for their heavy equipment. For a good decade, manufacturers have been moving in this direction, first as retrofit packages on machines in the field and increasingly as standard on newer models. Caterpillar is no exception among manufacturers that are movin

Asphalt paver manufacturers are meeting demands for high performance machines that can deliver a quality mat - Mike Woof reports Major manufacturers are rolling out ranges of new asphalt pavers designed to meet the latest emissions regulations for Europe, as well as developing models to suit customers in developing nations. The firms have designed many of the latest machines to meet tough new emissions legislation, although versions will also be available for less regulated markets also. Ammann has up

Andrade Moreno is a man on a mission. The head of Colombia's infrastructure agency ANI explains how the organisation is giving foreign companies increasing confidence to invest time and money in the country. David Arminas reports Change, especially when it touches the highest levels of South American business and politics, can bring with it personal danger. Luis Fernando Andrade Moreno, president of Colombia's National Infrastructure Agency - ANI - was aware of this when he took on the role in 2011. B

US roads and bridges are crumbling at an alarming rate as state governments wring their hands over the increasingly scarce money for repairs. Enter the FAST Act. But is it enough? US state transportation department officials, as well as highway contractors and operators, breathed a sigh of relief in December. For months the highways infrastructure sector waited anxiously to see where the necessary money for road projects would come from. For several years, the Highways Trust Fund – the usual way of paying f