Features

Many of the great and the good in the global mobility sector gathered at this year’s Movin’ On event in Montreal. Measured regulation of technologies and safety issues were major themes, reports David Arminas Autonomous vehicles, platooning, smart intersections and safety – these were the talking points over two and half days of the Movin’ On event in Montreal. Everyone in the mobility sector is at the same point, trying to see what mobility will look like in the future. Apparent at the event was just

Equipment from XCMG has played an important role in the excavation of a new tunnel link underneath the Micang Mountain in China. The project to build the right-hand bore for the Micang Mountain tunnel on the Sichuan-Shaanxi Expressway has taken 54 months to complete. The tunnel was needed as the Micang Mountain has been a barrier to direct transportation at the junction of Hanzhong and Bazhong. This has blocked the major transport route between Sichuan and Shaanxi, preventing traffic flows across the reg

Every year 186,300 children die from road traffic crashes around the world. That is more than 500 children every day. Road traffic injury ranks among the top four causes of death for all children over the age of five years. According to data reported by the Moroccan Comité national de prévention des accidents de la circulation (CNPAC), young people below the age of 14 represent 15% of all the deaths on Moroccan roads and the majority of these are pedestrians. Many of these fatalities are amongst children

RoadResource.org as a go-to website for surfacing information is now live When RoadResouce.org went live – quietly - in July it was the end of two years of hard work by three major US associations for pavement preservation. But there was no grand party or ceremonial pushing of the “go live” button, says Doug Hogue, vice president and general manager of VSS Macropaver. “For all of us in the industry July is a busy period that left little time to celebrate on the opening day,” says the 51-year-old chartere

Specialised swale construction featured in Northern England recently UK contractor Balfour Beatty examined different methods for building swales along the Norwich Northern Distributor Road near the English city of Norwich. Balfour decided to trial specialised road-widening machines, specially configured excavator buckets and modified compaction equipment. Excavators and dump trucks prepared the area for placement of sub-base material. The swale areas were constructed using both conventional methods as wel

The US city of Houston is expanding fast and its transport system is having to be developed to cope

The Russian government is starting a major programme of building bypasses around large cities during the current financial year – Eugene Gerden writes The Russian government is starting a massive programme of building bypasses around the country’s biggest cities during this financial year. The aim is to address the problems of traffic jams and speeding traffic on federal routes, according to recent statements by the Russian Presidential Administration and some senior officials from the Ministry of Trans

An asphalt plant supplied by Ammann is now playing an important role in the UAE’s road construction sector The plant is producing material for major new road projects in the UAE. “We need to produce quality asphalt, and high volumes of it,” said Adnan Elmasri, operations manager for Top Link Contracting & General Transportation, based in Dubai. Top Link, a major contractor in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, is providing mix for a new highway that will help to reduce the current traffic congestion issues occurring

Advances in drive technology are being seen from several key firms as new generation, compact electric systems begin entering the market - Mike Woof writes Major innovations in machine systems are being seen in the construction equipment sector. Several manufacturers are hedging their bets with regard to drive technology and introducing electric drive machines, which will suit use in urban ultra-low emission zones. Wacker Neuson has developed an array of electric machines in recent years including a numbe

Engine firms continue to develop new power solutions and refine existing technologies - Mike Woof writes There has been strong pressure against internal combustion engines worldwide, with the scandal over the emissions from diesel powered private cars has strengthening opinion against these engines. Diesel engine firms are taking the long view by offering future power options such as alternative fuels and electric systems. The engine builders are also hard at work ensuring that power units for the indust

Intelligent compaction and infrared scanning technologies have been used to improve construction quality The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) carried out a year-long project throughout 2017 to demonstrate the use of intelligent compaction (IC), infrared scanning (IR), and Veta software to improve pavement construction operations. “We were looking for ways to assess quality in asphalt projects,” said Bill Stone, research administrator at MoDOT. “We are working towards better pavements that l

The Svilaj Bridge connecting Croatia and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is nearly 40% complete, according to the contractors and the Croatian Motorways Directorate. Locally, the Svilaj Bridge – financially a 50-50 project between the two countries - is part of a motorway running from Beli Manastir to Osijek and on tyo Svilaj. But the route is also part of the motorway Budapest-Osijek-Sarajevo-Plocˇ which is the Pan European Corridor Vc (Corridor 5, branch c) connecting Budapest with the Adriatic.

Aggregates Industries recently lightened the load for the 73m-long bow string truss Acton Swing Bridge in England. When opened in 1933, it was the first floating swing bridge in the UK – floating on a pontoon. The 84-year-old bridge, which is cared for by the Canal & River Trust charity, carries the busy A49 road over the River Weaver Navigation, in the county of Cheshire. A recent €1.7 million complete refurbishment included strengthening works to the underside of the bridge as well as improvements to its

Bridging North America will build the Gordie Howe Bridge, named after a famous Canadian ice hockey player and leading scorer A partnership including Fluor Canada and ACS Infrastructure Canada has been chosen to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Gordie Howe International Bridge project. The client, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA), announced the appointment of Bridging North America group in the Canadian city of Windsor, across the Detroit River from Detroit in the US state of Michig