Materials

Anaconda Equipment on show

August 27, 2013

Anaconda Equipment International says Africa is a very important market for the company, which will be represented by Pilot Crushtec. As well as exhibiting products on the Pilot Crushtec stand Anaconda will also have a presence on the Invest Northern Ireland stand.

Kraton expands duty range of its polymer products

August 23, 2013

The pavement industry needs to come up with novel solutions in order to meet the twin challenges of climate change and squeezed budgets. This was the message from Kraton Polymers market development manager Rombout Hartemink when he addressed FIRM13. Hartemink illustrated the properties of Kraton’s modified bitumen with the aid of his stretchy bar. This 250mm-long bar of Highly Modified Bitumen stretches to five or six times its length, returning to its original state in around five minutes. “It changes

ICL offers novel asphalt additive concept

August 23, 2013

Chemical giant ICL is now promoting Poly Posphoric Acid (PPA) in Europe, presenting it to FIRM13. PPA can be added to bitumen by itself or with polymers and has been used in the US for 35 years, becoming more popular in the last 15. “This is related to the recognition that PPA can safely bring bitumen quality to within specifications and the demonstrated synergies in polymer modified bitumen,” said René Maldonado, manager technical development at ICL Performance Products. “PPA is now being used by sever

Colas develops novel chip seal solutions

August 23, 2013

Colas has been working on new chip seal solutions for high traffic roads using bitumen emulsions. Technical director Christine Deneuvillers presented the company’s new range of Colas High Traffic chip seals to the 2013 FEHRL Infrastructure Research Meeting (FIRM13) in Brussels in June this year. Although chip seal is used on main roads in France, its most common application is on rural roads, said Deneuvillers. But today’s financial restraints mean that techniques such as chipseal, which can help exten

Better road surfaces to last longer

August 23, 2013

Preservation can make roads perform better and last longer - and save money in the long run. Kristina Smith reports BAM Wegen has laid the first ever half-warm porous asphalt section on a major highway in the Netherlands. The asphalt for the 500m-long test section on the A18 near Varsseveld was produced at 105°C rather than 160°C, representing a saving on energy and CO2 emissions of around 30%.

Demand is changing in the bitumen market

August 22, 2013

The supply and demand for bitumen around the world is changing; refineries, suppliers and contractors must all make changes too - Kristina Smith reports These are interesting times for those supplying and buying bitumen. Almost every part of the picture is in flux: global demand is shifting dramatically; major suppliers are following demand; refineries are closing down or stopping production of bitumen. “In Europe and globally there is a very big chain of events happening,” said Bernd Schmidt, CEO o

Runway rebuild for key Bulgarian airport

August 21, 2013

Varna Airport in north-east Bulgaria provides an important international link for the country, with a runway rebuild helping improve capacity. The airport is of particular importance for Bulgaria’s tourist trade as it provides a major connection for visitors to the Black Sea coast. And the reconstruction work at Varna Airport’s only runway will ensure the facility is able to handle the area’s increasing visitor numbers. The project had to be carried out quickly and efficiently to prevent delays to f

Naçe improves impact crusher output

August 21, 2013

Naçe’s TK11 tertiary impact crusher range has undergone minor updates and improvements, which generate 10% more output, and the range gets a new model - the TK11-10. It fits in between the existing TK11-05 and TK11-15 models and offers an output capability of 220tonnes/hour from its 200kW electric motor. The company’s DMK05 is claimed to be the largest impact crusher produced in Turkey. Using a 500kW electric motor, the DML05 is said to be capable of outputs in excess of 500tonnes/hour, using a 1.4metre

Innovative asphalt recycling system from E-Mak

August 21, 2013

Asphalt plant specialist E-Mak has developed and patented a hot recycling system that saves energy while ensuring bitumen is not damaged during the material recycling process. Cleverly, its new plant re-uses heat generated by the burner and flows it through the tower to improve heat regeneration to maintain product quality. Careful development of flights inside the tower increase the time it takes for material to descend, which also provides additional mixing capability while boosting heat absorption. E

Sennebogen 6130 HD crawler crane’s Austrian gravel extraction

July 16, 2013

A Sennebogen 6130 HD duty cycle crawler crane is said to be being successfully used by Gral Schotter to extract gravel near Graz, Austria. In the Wundschuh gravel pit, the 6130 HD model is working in dragline bucket operation. At an extraction depth of 13m the crawler crane is said to be penetrating particularly hard layers, a key reason why Gral Schotter was keen to use a duty cycle crawler crane of its size. An impressive 354kW is provided by the model’s diesel engine. The 6130 HD’s two powerful winches e