Features

A road improvement plus tunnel and bridge building contract in an area once inhabited by dinosaurs in northern Argentina, is a small but key part of an ambitious project to complete a road that will eventually link the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Latin America - Adriana Potts reports. Remote, rough and spectacular are words that come to mind when describing the mountains of Ischigualasto in Argentina's northern province of San Juan This is the only place in the world where an undisturbed sequence of rock

When built it was determined that a vital US road/rail bridge would always be widened.

A road improvement plus tunnel and bridge building contract in an area once inhabited by dinosaurs in northern Argentina, is a small but key part of an ambitious project to complete a road that will eventually link the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Latin America - Adriana Potts reports. Remote, rough and spectacular are words that come to mind when describing the mountains of Ischigualasto in Argentina's northern province of San Juan This is the only place in the world where an undisturbed sequence of rock

Naue Geosynthetics says its Secugrid offers a solution for a host of ground preparation problems, and for use in reinforced retaining walls. Secugrid is a geogrid made from extruded monolithic flat bars with welded junctions, for soil reinforcement in earth, landfill and road construction as well as in hydraulic engineering applications. Among its benefits are said to be its high strength and low elongation thanks to the extruded elements. "The monolithic flat bars give it a robust construction, an

Colbond, a leading producer of synthetic nonwovens and polymeric mats and composites, has appointed Jan Mahy as global director of research and development. He brings with him 18 years of professional experience and moves from Akzo Nobel, a former parent company of Colbond. "I am looking forward to join Colbond's vision to strengthen the company's postition as an innovative global player in technical textiles. Leading an international group of experts to develop and improve products for this industry

Superlatives, once applied only to China's phenomenal growth, are now being used for India. Patrick Smith reports Those involved with the Naini Bridge in Allahabad are so proud of the result that they have set up an exhibition centre detailing its construction.

The South Interoceanic Road is a path of integration and development: it is also a GRAA 2011 Winning Project . On 24 January, 2012 the International Road Federation formally presented a Global Road Achievement Award (GRAA) in. the Programme Management category to Concesionaria Interoceánica Sur Tramos 2 y 3, S.A. for its leadership in the provision of integrated services as part of a large-scale transportation infrastructure programme. IIRSA Sur Concessionaire - Stretches 2 & 3, builds, provides maintenanc

Demand for geosynthetics in the United States alone is projected to increase 4.4% per year through to 2010 to more than 727 million m². Geosynthetics, used worldwide in the highway sector for strengthening, include geotextiles, geomembranes, geonets, geogrids, geosynthetic clay liners, preformed geocomposites, geocells and geofoams. The US advances will be fuelled by a recovery in nonbuilding construction. Additionally, geosynthetics will continue to increase their use in a wider range of applications

Wirtgen's new 120F milling machine has been developed from the 100F launched late last year. The two machines use the same basic chassis but the 120F is a more powerful mill that can handle wider cuts of up to 1.2m. Jeff Wylie is product manager for Wirtgen's milling machines in the US and explained that the machine comes with several new features. Power comes from a Cummins QSC diesel and this engine is rubber-mounted, to reduce vibration and noise. A variable speed cooling fan is fitted that senses engine

With substantial corporate changes for two of the major manufacturers of milling machines, the market is in a state of some flux. Only a few months ago Atlas Copco bought its fellow Swedish firm Dynapac, followed shortly afterwards by the announcement that another Swedish company, Volvo, was planning to acquire Ingersoll Rand's road development range. Exactly how these two large businesses will be integrated into Atlas Copco and Volvo remains to be seen. Both Atlas Copco and Volvo will face a learning c

More sophisticated compaction technologies are now coming to market, offering a wide range of benefits to users While asphalt paving techniques vary widely between North America and Europe, there is greater commonality in the compaction methods required. New developments in compaction rollers are offering contractors using both North American and European style paving techniques major gains in quality. According to Robert Horan, a regional engineer for the US-based Asphalt Institute, intelligent compact

IRF Geneva's statistics guru, Cristian Gonzalez, explores the growing importance of data in public and private assessments of transport projects IRF's work on statistics is rarely in the limelight. It is, however, an essential component of the federation's key advocacy role on behalf of its members. Statistics are, indeed, a vital function of authoritative lobbying and knowledge sharing on the range of issues impacting our sector - from highlighting the persuasive economic business cases for investment in