Search

A study sponsored by the American Glass Bead Manufacturers' Association reveals that "a growing number of imported glass bead products for highway markings exhibit high concentrations of heavy metals, including arsenic and lead."

The forthcoming Tier 4 emissions legislation represents a great leap forward in technology, Mike Woof reports A high-profile focus on sustainability and reduced environmental impact is sweeping the construction sector in the European Union (EU) and the US. The EU and the US will implement regulations for the lowest emission off-road machines in history, with Canada and Japan expected to release similar regulatory programmes this year. The legislation being introduced will transform the construction indu

Powered by the six-cylinder Scania DC13 Tier 2 diesel engine with a gross power output of 368 kW (500 HP) at 2,100 rpm, the new Doosan DA40 articulated dump truck is said by the company to offer 10% more engine power than the previous MT41 model. The South Korean firm also says that the machine’s gross torque of 2,373Nm at 1,300 rpm, a 22% increase on the MT41, is the highest in the ADT market.Contributing to an overall 8% reduction in fuel consumption on the MT41 is the new ZF transmission offering eight f

The 5700C-Max unit from Power Curbers has now been used on a tricky shoulder widening job in New South Wales, Australia. The machine carried out the job close to Robertson in the Southern Highlands, about 1.5 hours drive to the south of Sydney. The job required the construction of a 200m long section of barrier, built to the requirements of the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA). The contractor hand-formed the concrete shoulder as it was about 3m wide at the start and narrowed down to 1m at the end.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) in Ireland has announced it will expand its journey time system by expanding deployment of ANPR cameras from 80 to 126, allowing vehicles to be tracked between two points to calculate the flow and speed of traffic.

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

Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is a UK government-funded body designed to encourage greater resource efficiency. This body completed a trial with contractor Balfour Beatty and the Highways Agency to test the innovative use of recycled organic compost along roadside embankments.

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

Federal Signal Technologies (FSTech) has been awarded a three-year back office system and operations contract by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDoT).

When built it was determined that a vital US road/rail bridge would always be widened. Work on that huge project is going to plan as Patrick Smith reports One of the biggest bridge widening projects in the world is being carried out under an ambitious development programme. At US$1.2 billion, the seven-year scheme to widen the Huey P. Long Bridge in the US state of Louisiana is also the largest of 16 projects planned under the state's TIMED (Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development)

The second tube of the Pfänder Tunnel, Bregenz, Austria, where the new main tunnel has been excavated using a tunnel boring machine (TBM), is being constructed by Alpine BeMo Tunnelling. Tubbings have been installed as the inner tunnel lining, and as part of concreting for the inner shell, the FQ 1 crosscut, suitable for vehicles, is being constructed using a tunnel formwork carriage designed and supplied by PERI.

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

A new bridge inspection unit is carrying out vital work in Vietnam.

Beat the Traffic, a leading provider of real-time traffic information for broadcast media and mobile devices, and TrafficLand, the largest authorised aggregator of live traffic video in the US, have signed an agreement that allows TrafficLand's video feeds to be incorporated into the Beat the Traffic 3D solution for media partners.

Aximum is a comparatively new organisation, but it incorporates many old-established companies in the route safety business. As Alan Peterson discovered, it is 'ready to pick up speed' A few weeks ago the French-based Aximum Group added a fourth international subsidiary to its portfolio of businesses at the end of what has been a busy period for the fledgling company. Al Habtoor Aximum is a joint venture with the leading contractor in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and with the backing of this highly rega

ECED's first Dealers' Conference in April during Intermat resulted in "a tremendous success and solid future outlook for the association" The president of the European Confederation of Equipment Distributors (ECED), Dr. José Gameiro, said the gravity of the current crisis is "the worst in the past 50 years, with a devastating effect on equipment distribution for public works and civil construction." Describing the foreseeable consequences for the equipment sector, he estimated that "up to 20-30% of Euro

OLEV Technologies has announced that its On-line Electric Vehicle (OLEV) bus project for the city of McAllen, Texas has been selected for funding through the US Federal Transportation Administration TIGGER (Transit Investment in Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction) grant programme.

A novel approach to utilities installation will lengthen the life of Helsinki's streets, reports Mike Woof A major utilities project in Finnish capital Helsinki will offer huge benefits for the city's streets and traffic flow rates in years to come. A new tunnel system is being excavated under Helsinki for the power company Helsingin Energia, although this will be co-owned by the city. Called the Common Utility Tunnel (Meilahti-Pasilak-Käpylä LU2), the excavations form an extensive network spreading out un

A majority of Americans believe new transportation projects should be paid for with user-fees instead of tax increases, according to a new national Reason-Rupe poll of 1,200 adults on cell phones and land lines.

The use of high-pressure water jets to remove old concrete on structures is becoming increasingly popular Hydrodemolition of concrete structures by robotic equipment is becoming an increasingly used method for removing deteriorated concrete with high-pressure water techniques. It offers the selective removal of deteriorated concrete, while retaining sound concrete below the intended level of removal, a process that will not damage rebar or cause micro-cracks in the concrete, as will mechanical methods s