Earthmoving & soil compaction

Asphalt paving equipment manufacturers from around the globe are rolling out new and improved machines - Mike Woof writes The pace of development within asphalt paving technology is quick, with new machines being unveiled all around the world. Machine manufacturers in Europe, China and Japan have been re ning and developing their technologies, which are aimed at differing global markets.

Volvo CE is now offering its own range of rigid haul trucks. There are four machines in the range from the 40tonne class R45D up to the top of the range R100E for the 90tonne class. The trucks have been developed with the assistance of in-house expertise at the Terex Trucks facility in Motherwell, Scotland, which Volvo CE now owns. The range is being launched initially in less regulated markets and comprises the R45D, R60D, R70D and R100E. The R60D and R70D are for the 54tonne and 65tonne payload classes

The use of sophisticated machine control tools from Trimble has helped US contractor Beaver Excavating deliver a project more efficiently. In the US, earthworks contractor Beaver Excavating is testing Trimble’s new machine control platform and is achieving high accuracy and consistent excavation and grading in less time. Jim Sterling, survey and GPS manager for Beaver Excavating, explained that the company has been a longtime Trimble customer. Over the years, the company has added additional machine

When Flannery Plant Hire was awarded work on the Norwich bypass project, they purchased a wide range of new Caterpillar machines. Caterpillar dealer Finning UK & Ireland supports construction of the Norwich Bypass, one of the UK’s largest road infrastructure projects, with a vast range of Caterpillar machines and advanced Caterpillar Production Management - CPM. Known as the Northern Distributor Road, the project is managed by primary contractor Balfour Beatty, with P. Flannery Plant Hire as main earthwork

Scottish manufacturer Terex Trucks is increasing its presence in Kazakhstan, having recently exhibited at the Kazcomak 2017 exhibition. This is the 14th edition of Kazcomak, which took place at the Atakent IEC in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Scottish plant hire business Barhaul is putting a 28tonne capacity Terex Truck TA300 articulated hauler to work at a barite mine near Aberfeldy in Perthshire. Barite is used mostly as an additive for drilling mud in gas and oil exploration – the US, Middle East and China are the largest markets.

A Hitachi ZX300LC-6 excavator is helping to upgrade a stretch of the D1 highway in the Czech Republic, one of the country’s most important routes. Part of the E50/E65 European road network, the D1 is the main highway between Prague and Brno, the largest cities in the Czech Republic. As part of a broader governmental initiative that started three years ago, work began on a specific 68km stretch of the D1 in February 2017.

Polish cement company Cementownia Warta has taken delivery of a Volvo EC750E excavator, the first delivery to Eastern Europe, according to the manufacturer. The EC750E crawler model is working at Cementownia Warta’s limestone operations, said Dariusz Gawlak, managing director of Warta and vice president of the Polish Cement Association. Gawlak expects more infrastructure projects coming on stream next year, signalling a general rise in demand for cement.