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Uganda's Government is investing some US$512 million in upgrading and maintaining the country's national and district road networks.

US style high production pavers are seeing key performance gains - Mike Woof reports. Exhaust emissions regulations and ever tougher safety requirements have pushed manufacturers to develop new and improved pavers aimed at the US market. The rivalry between manufacturers of these machines has also intensified. European manufacturers have developed their own US style pavers in recent years. BOMAG, Dynapac and Vögele have all designed machines using the benefit of their US engineering input in a bid to target

A north German paving contractor is now relying on Vögele pavers for all of its operation. Gröschler is a group of four construction companies in northern Germany. The jobs Gröschler undertake for their customers range from narrow cycle paths to wide highways and it now has six Vögele pavers in its fleet, the tracked SUPER 1300-2, SUPER 1600-2, SUPER 1800-2 and SUPER 1900-2 pavers, as well as two wheeled SUPER 1603-2 and SUPER 1803-2 pavers. One job took the Gröschler team to Versmold, 30km west of Bielefel

A bridge under construction linking Bhoteodar and Bharate in Nepal's Lamjung District has collapsed. The bridge is located in Western Nepal and spans the Marsyangdi River. Work on the truss type bridge commenced in February 2009 and the structure has a span of 65m and is 4m wide. At the time of the collapse, 25 construction workers were at the site and three are posted as missing while two were injured and were taken to hospital for treatment.

Five consortia have been selected for the pre-qualification phase of Egypt's US$1 billion Rod el-Farag highway tender by the Housing, Utilities and Urban Development Ministry (MHUUD).

ARRB reports a successful conclusion for the 3rd International Road Surface Friction Conference on Australia's Gold Coast.

CUTAWAY is said to offer a novel approach to reducing the cost of grass management for highway maintenance. This new grass growth regulator can cut the time, costs and environmental impact of managing grass growth. A report by Cranfield University has highlighted the potential to cut costs by up to 45% and up to 60% reduction in C02 emissions during grass management.

The FIEC, the European construction industry federation, aims to end unfair competition by state-owned and state-aided enterprises across the globe.

The Polish General Directorate of National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) is not allowing Chinese firm COVEC to continue construction of A2 highway.

Improved underground utility location capabilities are claimed for the improved unit from Radiodetection, This new unit is a development of the RD8000 range of pipe and cable locators introduced by Radiodetection in 2008 and offers the addition of an innovative current direction (CD) feature. This is available on Radiodetection's most advanced locator the RD8000PDL and allows a user to trace and identify a target cable in highly congested areas or when running parallel to other lines.

Bulgaria's road system is underdeveloped and its highway network is seeing significant investment from the EU in terms of funding and expertise.

JCB has marked its 65th anniversary and is reporting a strong recovery from recession.

Road machinery specialist BOMAG has carried out a two day demonstration event at its headquarters in Boppard, Germany.

Sophisticated new paving technologies are coming to market that will help boost quality and performance. New paving technologies are being introduced to meet the differing demands of both North American and European customers. Although North American and European paving techniques do vary, there are also some control technologies being introduced that will help quality for both approaches.

A police officer in the UK recently refused to be photographed sitting on a bicycle at a charity event because he had not passed a cycling proficiency test. The officer added that a risk assessment had not been carried out on the bicycle, further reinforcing his concern that sitting on its saddle would compromise health and safety guidelines. The charity photo opportunity had been set-up to highlight how local businesses had provided cash for new bicycles for police and police support staff. The officer was

Klaruw says that its advanced laser scanner system can accurately evaluate the macro-texture of road pavement surfaces. This sophisticated system allows highway agencies to monitor road surface condition more accurately and assess whether the skid resistance meets safety requirements. The innovative Laser Texture Tester (LTT) device uses uses a rotating, high resolution laser to scan circular sections of road pavement.

In Austria police stopped a vehicle when they suspected its driver of being under the influence. The passenger ended up being charged with driving under the influence of alcohol when the driver jumped into the back seat. Police charged the passenger even though he said he had to grab the wheel to stop the car going over a cliff. The driver of the vehicle was however also charged with drink-driving.

At the recent annual congress of the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC), the body released its latest annual statistical report.

Atlas Copco Construction Tools now offers six new hydraulic compactor attachments designed for use on excavators ranging in weight from 1-40tonnes. A key innovation for the HC range is a housing attachment that can be offset at 15°, which improves the distribution of forces on the vibrator plate while reducing stress and wear. The firm says that the compactors are virtually maintenance-free due to a PermanentLube continuous lubrication system. The integrated flow rate and pressure control protects these uni

Russia's Federal Highway Agency (Rosavtodor) is setting out plans for a massive highway building programme that will last until 2020.