Features

The Wirtgen Group is developing its manufacturing facilities outside of Germany. The company has extensive operations in Brazil and China and has now opened a new plant in India, which has started production already. Joint president Stefan Wirtgen said, “The first machine we made was a Hamm compactor. It is specially developed for the Indian market.”

New machines are now coming to the international market, with Chinese firms producing a particularly strong showing. At the last BICES exhibition in Chinese capital Beijing, one of the most notable developments was how many of the country’s equipment manufacturers now offer ranges of soil compaction and/or asphalt compaction equipment.

Effective compaction control is one of a series of technical innovations boosting performance efficiency – Mike Woof writes. Maximising compaction efficiency can be a major cost factor on construction projects. Both for soil and asphalt compaction sectors, the risk from leaving an area under or over-compacted is substantial.

The ongoing Highways Agency A66 Carkin Moor to Scotch Corner project involves upgrading the original single carriageway to address safety concerns, particularly at junctions and crossings. Where differential settlement is threatening a remodelled junction, Tensar International's new TriAx geogrid provides an additional dimension of stability, saving design and build contractors Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering Limited (BBRCEL) the heavy time and costs inherent in conventional remedial solutions and

World of Asphalt 2012 and the co-located AGG1 Aggregates Forum & Expo will be the largest in the history of the two events. Guy Woodford reports on some of the technology and equipment set to be on show. With over 6,500m² of exhibit space available, World of Asphalt 2012 (WoA) is among the global showpiece events of the year for all asphalt, pavement maintenance and traffic safety industry professionals.

Tensar is making some key moves internationally, as well as in terms of market segments. The company is now marketing the GlasGrid range in the US and expects to develop healthy sales, however it sees major growth potential with the Geogrid product range. Jim Penman, director for bi-axial products & applications said: "One area we're moving into is base reinforcement and in particular what we're looking at is mechanistic emirical (ME) technology." Tensar has worked with the University of Illinois on a new d

The latest IRF Bulletin is wholly devoted to issues of Environment & Climate Change as they impact on the road infrastructure sector. It features an authoritative but highly readable set of articles contributed by IRF members throughout the world.

*Susanna Zammataro introduces the range of issues addressed by IRF Geneva’s very active Environment Committee. Achieving sound environmental and sustainability outcomes has long been an integral part of IRF members’ policy and practice.

Using geosynthetics for soil reinforcement is highly effective but requires a high quality and trusted geogrid. When it comes to deciding which geogrid is best for a specific project, a number of product parameters must be taken into account. In the design of steep slopes, the most important parameter is the available long term design strength (Pdes). Recently, Colbond has significantly increased this factor for its high performance Enkagrid product, recognised with a newly updated BBA (British Board of Ag

A special emulsion is being used at the largest gold mine in South America for slurry surfacing on its compacted, unpaved roads. The result is said to be greatly curtailed particulate emissions and enhanced visibility which makes roads safer and reduces regional haze.

VSS Macropaver reports a strong sales performance, with exports having been particularly profitable for the company, write Mike Woof. Vice president Doug Hogue said: "We're fortunate that we're dealing on a world basis to Latin America, China and Russia." Latin America, Chile, Mexico and Peru have been key markets for the firm, although the high import tariffs into Brazil have unfortunately meant that the company finds it hard to compete in this country's strong road sector against local rivals.

In Estonia, Novotrade Invest, which produces hydrocarbon resin HCR-105, has carried out research work on the material that can be used as a bitumen modifier. Hydrocarbon resin HCR-105 is obtained by thermal polymerisation of hydrocarbon fraction C9 [industrially it is isolated from the C9 aromatic hydrocarbon fraction during petroleum distillation].

US and European asphalt paving needs are different, but some firms are bridging that gap, reports Mike Woof. With a clear differentiation between the US and European asphalt paving markets, manufacturers from the latter are now developing machines aimed at the former. The US and European markets for paving machines have developed along very different lines. North American pavers are designed for high throughputs and high paving rates, having been designed to meet a need to build roads over long distances wi

Special fabrics are often used in civil engineering works, including highways, to make soil stronger Geosynthetics have been used in roadway construction for thousands of years with natural materials being mixed with soil to improve quality and stability. While today's products are much more sophisticated, the principles are the same. For example, when used with soil, geotextiles (permeable fabrics) can filter, separate, reinforce, protect, or drain, and they are often made from polypropylene or polyester,

As powerful fabrics, geosynthetics and geotextiles have a wide range of applications in many civil engineering applications including roads and airfields. Geosynthetics specialist Tensar is introducing a radical new product that it thinks will revolutionise the construction industry. According to the company, its new product represents the "biggest advance in ground stabilisation technology for 25 years. Six years in development, it is said to offer major improvements in aggregate confinement and soil stabi