Maintenance

The New Holland Construction plant in Lecce, Italy, has been awarded the international Occupational Health and Safety Management System certification OHSAS 18001 by the prestigious SGS certification organisation. The plant has already received the ISO 9001 for Quality Management and the ISO 14001 for Environmental Management standards.

Caterpillar and Wacker Neuson of Munich, Germany have signed an alliance agreement for the design, manufacture, sale and support of Caterpillar mini hydraulic excavators in the under 3tonne category. The alliance agreement calls for Wacker Neuson to leverage its manufacturing and product development capability to produce the Caterpillar mini hydraulic excavators at its production plant in Linz, Austria. Caterpillar currently offers three models in this size range, and the machines will be produced to Cate

Case Construction Equipment UK will field a strong, four-man team at the final of the Case European Rodeo to be held at the company’s Customer Centre near Paris, France, later this year. UK operators attended north and south heats as more than 100 customers a day took part in the four Case roadshow events.

New Holland Construction has donated a LS180 skid steer loader to the Italian Red Cross at a ceremony at its headquarters in Legnano, Lombardy. Giampiero Biglia, Italy’s business director for New Holland Construction officially presented the machine, which will become part of the Italian Red Cross earth working fleet used in missions in Italy and elsewhere. He said: “New Holland Construction has always supported public organisations that are committed to civil protection, the protection of our territory a

A landmark has been reached for the production of mini excavators in Japan, as Hitachi Construction Machinery Tierra (HCM Tierra) celebrates machine number 150,001 to roll off the production line. The delivery of the ZX52U-3 to Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe)/HCME was marked with a ceremony at the Oosterhout mini excavator factory in the south of The Netherlands. The handover celebration was attended by Masamichi Itou, divisional general manager Oosterhout factories;

In the UK severe winter conditions for the second year in succession have resulted in an increase in the number of pavement surface failures and potholes developing. With local authorities facing budget cuts as part of the UK Government's austerity drive to reduce debt, there is little funding left for planned road maintenance work, let alone repairing potholes. The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents local authorities in England and Wales, says that there is a shortage of some €194 million

Major repairs are required to roads and bridges in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro State following the recent spate of flooding. In all 185 bridges and five roads will have to be repaired or rebuilt, with the work expected to cost in the region of US$237.6 million. Severe weather conditions caused the flooding, which was particularly heavy in in the hilly regions of Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis, Sumidouro, Petropolis, Bom Jardim, Sao Jose do Vale do Rio Preto and Areal.

South Africa's Transport Ministry has set out plans for a new road improvement programme. Called S'Hambe Sonke the US$3.04 billion programme will run for three years and tackle improvements to secondary roads. Filling potholes will be the priority of the plan, which is intended to employ up to 70,000 people during 2011 and help provide work. Labour intensive construction methods will be used according to the Transport Ministry, which means that many of the repairs will use traditional techniques rather than