Concrete milling, paving & compaction

In Brazil, concrete pavers from Wirtgen are being used to improve sections of the BR-101 highway as well as to construct concrete safety barriers. The use of these machines is of note as it is the first time concrete paving has been used on a federal road in Brazil. The 1st Army Engineering Division of the Brazilian Army is carrying out three of the eight North Eastern sections, as the construction work had to be speeded up project because the road is deemed crucial to the country's economy. Two Wirtgen SP8

Concrete paving machines from Guntert & Zimmerman have been carrying out important surface repair jobs around the world. In Belgium a paver from the firm recently completed a high speed road repair, while at Qatar's New Doha International airport one of the firm's S850 units has carried out a major apron paving contract. The new airport is being designed to cope with large passenger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and the Sinohydro-Gamuda-WCT joint venture was awarded the contract to build two runways, thr

The latest technology continues to improve the quality of concrete paving while contractors are also benefiting from more adaptable equipment - Mike Woof reports For many concrete paving applications, versatility is required rather than a high production rate. Leading paver manufacturers such as GOMACO, Power Curbers, Terex and Wirtgen all offer high mobility machines that can be adjusted to cope with an array of tasks. For a contractor, the advantage of these smaller pavers is that they can be configured q

High speed, high quality concrete paving can be achieved in the demanding airport environment using the latest equipment. Minnich Manufacturing has developed a novel dowel pin drilling machine and has successfully tested this equipment at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida. The A-5SCW is a self-propelled, cantilevered machine that features a wireless remote control and is designed to install five dowel pins simultaneously. The control system has been developed by Wisconsin Kar-Tech and uses prov

Innovations in materials technology, as well as machines, could provide a major boost to the concrete paving sector - Mike Woof reports Development of new material technologies for the concrete paving sector continues apace and the latest innovations could provide the biggest boost for this market in many years. High performance cementitious material (HPCM) is an innovative concept that has been developed and tested for road surfacing applications as part of a project in which the UK's Transport Research La

In 2007, Tecnotest introduced its new technology, Silent & Cold Power which applied to its new line of high end compression machines for concrete testing, and this has recently been applied to the company's machines for testing cement. It is now being offered in a new line of models: the new KP 200/A (for tests on cubic specimens 15cm/side) and KP 200/L (for testing cylinders diameter 15cm x 30cm high and 16 x 32cm high, as well as 15cm/side cubes).

Modern technology is making testing more efficient and reliable, increasing productivity and reducing costs, as Patrick Smith reports A few years ago, visual inspection of an 18-year-old bridge by ARRB in Australia identified considerable cracking in the precast, prestressed deck planks as well as in the cast in situ deck overlay. Laboratory examination indicated that the deck planks and the deck overlay were suffering from a strong case of alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR). Testing of concrete cores drilled

Modern products are making life easier for those who have to look after bridges in need of repair Aproject to repair a bridge in the American state of Tennessee has brought safety benefits and improved the ride quality for drivers using the crossing. The Chickasaw Bridge spans the Ellington Parkway and it has benefited from a rehabilitation job by contractor Jamieson Construction. The roadway on the bridge was in a poor state and required frequent patching, and to tackle the problem, the Tennessee DOT consi

Skikaflex Construction by UK-based Sika was chosen by Skanska Balfour Beatty Joint Venture to seal movement joints during the widening of one of Europe’s busiest motorways. The M25, also known as the London Orbital, handles around 200,000 vehicles every day on its busiest sections. Its widening between junctions 27 and 30 is said to be delivering much needed extra capacity to tackle congestion and improve journey times.