Features

The tunnelling sector remains one of the most active segments of the construction industry worldwide, fuelling demand for equipment However, there have been issues with the efficiency of the selection process for the most suitable tunnelling method for a project in the past. With this in mind, the Italian hydraulic breaker manufacturer Indeco has been working on a new algorithm that allows a contractor to optimise the tunnelling method selection. The firm said that this system has been developed becau

A demolition job in California was carried out successfully using a hydraulic breaker fitted to an excavator. An overpass on Highway 91 in Southern California had to be removed, with the contractor opting to use a hydraulic breaker for the job. The work was carried out within the 22-hour possession period set by the local authorities, allowing the route to reopen to traffic on time and minimising transport delays. The work was carried out safely and precisely, due to the use of suitable equipment. The re

Caterpillar has launched a 24/7 monitoring service to oversee the human factor in machinery operations. Through in-cab and wearable safety technologies, analysts at Caterpillar’s 24/7 Monitoring Centre correlate data about the health and productivity of operators and equipment. The information can reveal the magnitude of conditions such as fatigue and distraction and their impact on operations. “Our customers want better visibility of how behaviour impacts safety and productivity,” said Tim Crane,

Proven polyester bridge deck surfacing technology is now being used more widely – Mike Woof writes. The benefits of using polymer concrete bridge deck overlays are well known and this technology is becoming widely used in the US. The system can improve protection for bridge surfaces and help extend the life of a bridge deck, as well as increasing skid resistance. In the last 25 years the use of these overlays has increased significantly in the US. These perform best when installed on bridge decks that are i

The machines were ordered in two separate consignments, for nine units and with a further order for 10 more trucks made shortly afterwards. The 19 trucks are to meet anticipated demand in Myanmar, where LHM has been the official Terex Trucks dealer since 2013. LHM’s affiliated company, Aung Hein Min (AHM), based in Yangon, provides sales, marketing and service solutions for Terex Trucks customers. The 19 TR100 rigid dump trucks will be used for jade extraction in Myanmar, transporting earth, rock and jade.

Ethiopia is undergoing a rapid economic growth and infrastructure construction programme. This is helping drive the country’s economy, with new roads, railways and dams amongst the major civils works currently under construction. The road expansion programme is one of the key targets for the infrastructure work and it is estimated that road network of the country will be expanded to 136,000km in all.

An upgraded road link will reduce travel time to and from Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport in China Work on the expressway connecting Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport to Lanzhou city centre is now underway. An important role in the resurfacing work is being played by the use of materials supplied by Shell Bitumen. The facility is the main airport for Gansu Province and it is of major economic importance to the region. The expressway runs some 70km from Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport to the centre of Lanzhou. Work on the

LiuGong unveiled new machines as well as its plans for the future at the BICES 2015 construction equipment show in Beijing recently. Trading conditions are tough in China at the moment, but LiuGong is performing better financially than many of its local rivals according to the firm. LiuGong’s vice-president, Dave Beatenbough said that the firm is particularly well known for its wheeled loaders, a product line for which the firm is a market leader in China. However, he explained that the company is actively

In the US asphalt pavement mix producers are improving the sustainability pro_ le of roads through the incorporation of recycled materials and the use of energy-saving warm-mix asphalt technologies. According to the latest survey of asphalt mix producers conducted by the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), more than 67.65 million tonnes of recycled materials was put to use in new asphalt pavement mixtures during the 2014 construction

An asphalt paving trial at Rome Airport tested mat quality with and without the use of MTVs Rome’s airport Fiumicino or the Leonardo da Vinci Airport of Rome is one of Europe’s busiest airports and lies 25.6km southwest of the city, a 30-minute train ride away.

East Africa’s ambitious road expansion programme is seeing the network expand significantly – Shem Oirere writes The East Africa countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda have announced ambitious road sector expansion plans in the 2015/16 financial year. This is despite their national budgets being weighed down by huge deficits and persisting lack of capacity to spend resources allocated to the sector in previous years. With the huge budget deficits, the countries will have to look for alternati

Juniper, spruce, cranberry, cottonwood and rose. Most people think of pine trees and berries amid beautiful country fields. But for one contractor based just below the Arctic Circle in the US state of Alaska, the names represent a successful job completed using machine control. Valley General Construction recently finished a US$350,000 contract for the upgrading of country roads in the local borough of Matanuska-Susitna. The colourful names belong to roads in a heavily wooded residential subdivision located

Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala (India) had been witnessing rapid urbanisation. The government of Kerala implemented the Thiruvananthapuram City Road Improvement Project (TRCIP) to widen the existing 42km of existing road network to cater the needs of rapid urbanisation.

The Mose project is a vast intervention plan by Italy’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport to protect Venice from flooding. It also has presented Cifa and its partners a big challenge for pumping concrete over a long distance.