Concrete milling, paving & compaction

Machine innovations and machine control advances are the latest news in the concrete paving sector - Mike Woof reports. While machine control systems were pioneered in the concrete paving market, continuous refinement of the technologies is offering major improvements for customers. Customers have a choice now of more than one supplier while the packages are said to be more user-friendly than before. And in addition, the systems themselves can be more closely integrated into the machines due to advances mad

Although it has been around since the 1970s, roller compacted concrete (RCC) is starting to look a whole lot more attractive, thanks to the rising price of bitumen. Now the challenge is to define specifications and tests to help ensure quality - Kristina Smith reports. At a meeting of the American Concrete Pavement Association in December 2011, there was a sea-change in the attitude towards roller compacted concrete (RCC). Up until that point, the feeling among the 400-plus members, of which half are contra

From density tests on a Mongolian gold mine project to an all-singing, all-dancing asphalt tester, Kristina Smith reports on some of the latest new products in materials testing. Perhaps understandably, nuclear density gauges can present contractors with some order to move them at all. “One of the problems with nuclear soil gauges is the restrictions on movement,” said John Lamond, Manufacturing. “If you are a contractor projects cross-border, it’s a real challenge to move a nuclear density gauge around.”

With the European economy in crisis and continuing shifts in the world order, manufacturers must re-think their business strategies if they are to succeed. Seasoned survivor Pasquale di Iorio, CEO of construction testing equipment specialist CONTROLS Group shares his plans for the future - Kristina Smith met him in Italy Pasquale Di Iorio has been at the helm of construction testing equipment manufacturer CONTROLS Group since 1996. First impressions suggest that Di Iorio is a strong leader: confidently dete

Various business moves are changing the face of the machine control sector - Mike Woof reports An array of developments, both business moves and new technologies, are changing the focus for the machine control segment of the construction equipment sector. For a long time three firms, Leica Geosystems, Trimble and Topcon, have dominated this segment. The three are retaining their strong positions in the market but are seeing additional competition from Hemisphere and MOBA. Arguably the biggest news is that T

The concrete road paving market continues to develop - Mike Woof reports Concrete road paving technology continues to evolve, with new equipment and techniques coming to market. Although concrete road construction has been used for many years, problems with early generation technologies affected this market segment. The first concrete roads were constructed in sections, which led to problems at joints but these were addressed many years ago with the advent of slipform paving. Concrete roads constructed in t

Minnich Manufacturing (MM) showcased its extensive range of concrete vibrators and dowel pin drills during the American firm’s recent Open House event at its HQ in Mansfield, Ohio. More than 150 attendees, including many suppliers and a number of contractors and local residents, saw products such as the Minnich Auto Vibe 111 Monitor and Hydraulic Vibrator and Hornet and Utility Drill Units, and watched videos of the equipment in action on job sites. Last year MM moved to a new facility in rural Ashland Cou

Pneumatic concrete dowel drills have one purpose – to drill holes. While their intended use is easy to recognize, operation of this equipment isn’t quite so simple. In fact, it’s a bit of a science. That’s not to say they’re difficult to operate. But there are certain best practices and processes to keep in mind for proper drill operation, whether it’s an on-grade, slab-rider or equipment-mounted model. Operators who adopt these guidelines and implement them on every job are rewarded with better performance

ELE International is launching the Geotechnical Data Acquisition Unit (GDU), a multi-channel data logger which can co-ordinate test data from several different soil tests at the same time. This development means that a wide range of soil tests can be carried out in a very cost effective way, with accurate and reliable results, says ELE. Combining the GDU with the transducers from the various soil tests and ELE’s geotechnical software package DS7, creates a system which can co-ordinate and supervise the vari

As the shift towards performance-based pavement design continues, testing equipment manufacturers are responding with new solutions for their customers - Kristina Smith reports. CONTROLS Group is launching a new dedicated asphalt division, PAVELAB SYSTEMS. The move signals a desire on the part of the manufacturer to offer a more partnership-style approach, working with customers to provide them with the right asphalt testing solutions at every stage of a pavement’s design and construction. “The mission of o