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California State Route 82 in the United States, a major urban arterial, is part of the historic El Camino Real or The King's Highway, connecting the communities of San Jose and San Francisco in northern California. Consisting of two to three lanes in each direction with a median, on level terrain and tangent alignment, the route between Hickey Boulevard in Colma and Mission Road in south San Francisco carries 17,400 vehicles/day

Liebherr’s duty cycle crawler crane was used by a specialist dredging company for dragline application work in Austria. Kiesabbau Wiedemann used the HS 845 HD to extract gravel from the gravel pit of the ARGE S 33 joint venture in Grafenwörth near Vienna. Using the dredging method around 200,000m³ of gravel and sand were extracted, temporarily stored and then loaded for further transportation. Equipped with a powerful 350kW/469 hp six-cylinder diesel engine, Liebherr says the durable steel structure of its

Geosynthetics have a wide variety of uses and these include providing extra strength in highway construction. Demand for geosynthetics in the United States alone is projected to increase 4.4% per year through to 2010 to more than 727 million m². Geosynthetics, used worldwide in the highway sector for strengthening, include geotextiles, geomembranes, geonets, geogrids, geosynthetic clay liners, preformed geocomposites, geocells and geofoams. The US advances will be fuelled by a recovery in nonbuilding constr

In the UK severe winter conditions for the second year in succession have resulted in an increase in the number of pavement surface failures and potholes developing. With local authorities facing budget cuts as part of the UK Government's austerity drive to reduce debt, there is little funding left for planned road maintenance work, let alone repairing potholes. The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents local authorities in England and Wales, says that there is a shortage of some €194 million

Major repairs are required to roads and bridges in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro State following the recent spate of flooding. In all 185 bridges and five roads will have to be repaired or rebuilt, with the work expected to cost in the region of US$237.6 million. Severe weather conditions caused the flooding, which was particularly heavy in in the hilly regions of Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis, Sumidouro, Petropolis, Bom Jardim, Sao Jose do Vale do Rio Preto and Areal.

The ongoing Highways Agency A66 Carkin Moor to Scotch Corner project involves upgrading the original single carriageway to address safety concerns, particularly at junctions and crossings. Where differential settlement is threatening a remodelled junction, Tensar International's new TriAx geogrid provides an additional dimension of stability, saving design and build contractors Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering Limited (BBRCEL) the heavy time and costs inherent in conventional remedial solutions and

South Africa's Transport Ministry has set out plans for a new road improvement programme. Called S'Hambe Sonke the US$3.04 billion programme will run for three years and tackle improvements to secondary roads. Filling potholes will be the priority of the plan, which is intended to employ up to 70,000 people during 2011 and help provide work. Labour intensive construction methods will be used according to the Transport Ministry, which means that many of the repairs will use traditional techniques rather than

Investigations are in hand in Costa Rica over a series of faults on the highway linking capital San Jose with Caldera. The US$230 million highway has suffered surface cracking in certain stretches, while a number of landslides have also occurred along the route that have required clearing and for repairs to be made. Costa Rica's authorities are investigating Autopistas del Sol following allegations of corruption with regard to the San Jose to Caldera highway project. The investigations are looking at the co

Using geosynthetics for soil reinforcement is highly effective but requires a high quality and trusted geogrid. When it comes to deciding which geogrid is best for a specific project, a number of product parameters must be taken into account. In the design of steep slopes, the most important parameter is the available long term design strength (Pdes). Recently, Colbond has significantly increased this factor for its high performance Enkagrid product, recognised with a newly updated BBA (British Board of Ag

A new highway project in Texas will tackle peak congestion A major highway job is underway in Texas at present where contractor Northgate Constructors, a joint venture between Kiewit & Zachary, is working on the huge DFW Connector Project. Northgate is using equipment from Guntert & Zimmerman, an S850, S600, and two TC1500s, on the job.

Caterpillar is introducing a revised line-up of 20-24 tonne E Series crawler excavators at Intermat 2012. The 320E, 323E and the reduced radius 320E RR adopt the EU Stage IIIB Cat C6.6 ACERTTM engine, providing reduced emissions and fuel consumption savings of up to 11% compared to other D Series models. A wider range of cab seating, including heating and cooling options, comes with the new E Series crawler excavators. Time delay lighting, additional safety handrails and improved serviceability are also sai

Special fabrics are often used in civil engineering works, including highways, to make soil stronger Geosynthetics have been used in roadway construction for thousands of years with natural materials being mixed with soil to improve quality and stability. While today's products are much more sophisticated, the principles are the same. For example, when used with soil, geotextiles (permeable fabrics) can filter, separate, reinforce, protect, or drain, and they are often made from polypropylene or polyester,

A huge logistics operation has been carried out successfully at New York's JFK Airport. One of the busiest runways at one of the world's busiest airports is now open to air traffic again, following a 120 day closure for resurfacing.

Safety in tunnels is of paramount importance, and in 2014 the European Union will be introducing new safety rules for such structures. As in other parts of the world, many tunnels under construction will be built to high standards incorporating the latest technologies.

ASI Solutions has developed a fast pothole repair technique in the shape of its Rhinopatch process. This comes with a life-time guarantee and is said to offer a fast repair solution when a pothole or other road surface defect fails. The firm says that using this technique means that there is no need for a works team to re-visit a site and further disrupt traffic. The solution is to provide a road repair using replacement material of a superior quality to the existing road surface and to eliminate any joints

Viatec says that the latest version of its Viafix instant cold road repair material offers speedy and reliable pothole repairs. The product has now been well-proven and is winning customers in the UK, such as Wiltshire County Council. Viafix is said to conform to customer needs for reduced repair costs and increased efficiency can cope with both wet and cold conditions and can be used in an array of rural and urban applications, whether traffic loads are heavy or light.

High-tech road markings are being used in a bid make roads safer in Europe as Patrick Smith reports Intelligent road studs are being installed on two of the busiest sections of the main roads heading towards the port of Dover in County Kent, south-east England.

A huge highway upgrade project will transform the Cairo-Alexandria road link into a world-class connection as Mike Woof reports. The work to upgrade the Desert Highway connecting Egypt's sprawling capital Cairo with its major port Alexandria, is one of the country's largest infrastructure projects for many years. This 220km highway link is being widened and improved to cope with the hugely increased traffic volumes resulting partly from Egypt's fast growing vehicle population. The Egyptian economy is strong

A low level of investment in improvements and upgrades to Germany’s highway network is causing concern in the country’s transport sector. Some states have revealed a backlog of works needing to be carried out, with road surfaces now reaching the end of their design life and bridges requiring replacement in different parts of the country. Transport groups say that continuing low road maintenance budgets will further exacerbate the problem.

CNH Global NV, a global player in the agricultural and construction equipment business, has acquired full ownership of L&T-Case Equipment, an unconsolidated joint venture established in 1999 with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) to manufacture and sell construction and building equipment in India.