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Yotta offers efficient winter maintenance
August 18, 2015
Yotta has developed sophisticated tools for winter highway maintenance. This technology can help local authorities to make better use of the Horizons visualised asset management software to assess potential winter maintenance works. The system provides a proactive approach that allows highways departments to address assets that are at risk from rain, snow and ice. The firm claims that this can help highways departments to deal with wet and icy conditions. Winter road damage is a great concern to Coun
Highways England: new agency with long-term investment strategies
August 18, 2015
Highways England, created out of the old Highways Agency, was set up on April 1 to oversee a closer relationship between government client and private contractors. World Highways went to a recent forum in London to hear both sides declare their hopes and challenges. Government reforms are often met with a certain amount of scepticism thanks to years of disillusionment over forgotten ministerial promises. Given that, highway contractors in the UK could have been forgiven if they had raised their eyes skyward
Third African safety conference – held in Addis Ababa
August 18, 2015
IRF providing input for the revision of the African Decade of Action Plan As part of the preparations for the second Global High Level Conference on Road Safety to be held in Brasilia later this year, UNECA, in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), African Transport Policy Programme (SSATP), the Global Road Safety Facility of the World Bank, the International Road Federation (IRF-Geneva) and other partners, organised the Third African Road Safety Conference on 9 and 10 July 2015 at the U
The IRF is showcasing achievement with its awards
August 18, 2015
Winners of the 2015 Global Road Achievement Awards Announced This year the IRF honoured 12 projects from around the world, each leading the way in innovation across major road and highway disciplines. The selection was made by an international panel of senior road development specialists. "Much of the transport sector's accomplishments are unnoticed by the hundreds of millions of people who benefit so greatly from the availability of safe, smart and interconnected road networks," said IRF chairman Abd
IRF launching Young Professionals Programme
August 17, 2015
The International Road Federation (IRF) Geneva is reaching out to the next generation of leaders and professionals by launching the IRF Young Professionals Programme (IRF-YPP) The IRF YPP provides young professionals involved with the road and mobility sectors a platform for communicating with their peers, exchanging ideas, getting involved and contributing new ideas to the road sector, and engaging with the IRF. The mission of the IRF-YPP is to present young professionals with opportunities for their
IRU secretary general awarded IRF Professional of the Year 2015
August 17, 2015
The secretary general of the International Road Transport Union, Umberto de Pretto, has been awarded the International Road Federation's highest and most prestigious individual distinction Established in 1951, the Professional of the Year Award recognises eminent public, private and education sector professionals with an outstanding track record of leadership and commitment to the road transport industry. Throughout the years, the award has recognised some of the world's most influential transport leader
Help is on hand from Roadtec’s Guardian Telematics
August 17, 2015
Telematics is giving contractors a greater oversight of the location and performance of their machinery In simple terms, telematics is any integrated use of telecommunications and ICT (information and communications technology). It concerns the sending, receiving and storing of information via telecommunication devices. Typically, this is in conjunction with machine or device control and includes use of global positioning systems, or GPS.
Productive tamping compactor from Atlas Copco
August 17, 2015
According to Atlas Copco Dynapac, its new CT3000 tamping compactor offers rapid and efficient operation. The machine has been designed to efficiently achieve specified densities on cohesive and semi-cohesive soils. With an operating weight of 22.5tonnes and an average production capacity of 820.7m3/h, the Dynapac CT3000 is ideal on projects such as highways and airport runways, where large-volume earthmoving is required. Power comes from a 194kW Cummins turbo-diesel engine, which drives through an au
Improving road drainage in Iowa
August 17, 2015
In Iowa, the Simex CT 2.8 vibrating compactor wheel is playing an important role in building a subsurface, road drainage system The topsoil of Iowa is famous for its fertility, a characteristic that explains the high agricultural productivity of this state located in the American Midwest. However, the composition of the soil lends itself poorly to the dispersal of rainwater, as its fine granulometry and low level of permeability (12.7cm/hour according to the American Association of State Highway and Tran
Australian firm uses recycled feed material for asphalt
August 14, 2015
Innovations in asphalt plant technology will help boost the use of recycled asphalt. Mike Woof writes. An Ammann asphalt plant located in Australia has been successful in using a high percentage of recycled feed materials. The Australian producer Downer recently created and laid an asphalt mix consisting of 99% recycled materials, including feed from somewhat unusual sources. The feed included toner from printer cartridges, tyres and glass and this is thought to be the first time a mix has been produced usi
Major upgrade for Chicago O’Hare Airport
August 14, 2015
Internationally, airports are being upgraded and expanded to increase capacity and safety – Mike Woof writes. All around the world, airports are being expanded and upgraded, both to cope with massive increases in passenger numbers and also to handle larger aircraft. Runways have to be rebuilt with stronger structures and surfaces to handle greater air traffic volumes as well as increased loads from larger aeroplanes. Building airport runways, however, poses many challenges for construction crews. Paving qua
Almost gone: Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge deconstructed
August 14, 2015
Three years ago a welder’s cut halved Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge. David Arminas reports from the banks of the Fraser River. By the time this issue of World Highways reaches you, one of Canada’s iconic steel arch bridges will be a shadow of its former self. It’s been a three-year demolition job since the first cut across the deck of the old Port Mann Bridge just outside the city of Vancouver on Canada’s Pacific coast. A new 10-lane 2.2km Port Mann Bridge opened in 2012 (see box). It runs parallel to the o
Brazil’s Serra do Cafezal Highway
July 29, 2015
Brazil's improved Mercosur route will boost capacity and cut travel time - Mauro Nogarin writes. The Régis Bittencourt Highway is one of the main access routes of the Mercosur traffic. It has a length of 400km and connects the main cities of São Paulo and Curitiba, which allows for products to enter from the southeast toward the rest of the southern part of Brazil and later transit to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Products also flow into Brazil from Mercosur through this major highway. The cost of the hi
An Indian quarry is boosting output with new Volvo CE machines
July 29, 2015
A quarrying operation in India is seeing the benefit of new machines for its fleet Indian quarry firm Pearl Mineral and mines, extracts some 7,200m3 of granite/year from its two granite quarries at Chimakurthy and Andhra Pradesh. Pearl Mineral and Mines is one of the top producers and exporters of Indian granite, with more than half of its produce sold overseas. Located on India’s south-eastern coast, the company produces stone, ranging from giant blocks to tiny chips. The Green Pearl granite quarry
Sandvik carries out drill and blast seminar in Russia
July 29, 2015
Boosting quarrying efficiency by improving drilling and blasting operations. Drilling and blasting operations are crucial for quarry efficiency and Sandvik recently held a Russian Quarry seminar focussing on this in a bid to boost effectiveness for a number of key clients. Sandvik Construction Russia worked with official distributor Quarry-Service to run the Quarry Seminar, this year located in Yekaterinburg. The event concentrated on drilling and blasting and featured the expertise and knowledge of Arne L