Materials

Predictions of impending doom for Australia's roads infrastructure have given the nation's governments and roads stakeholders the fright they needed to collaborate on roads policy. If the latest initiatives Australia is putting in place do produce the full extent of the roads reform required, there will be some lessons there for the whole world Whether through pride or stubbornness, or a combination of both, each state and territory of Australia has always liked to do things its own way. To some extent and

Timely maintenance using proven cost-effective methods can extend the life of a highway by many years as Patrick smith reports Highways are expensive assets to construct, and the wear and tear of modern traffic means that regular maintenance will delay costly repairs or in extreme cases reconstruction. There are a number of methods of carrying out such maintenance, and these include the use of slurry seals and micro-surfacing, which are cold mixed asphalt which is a mixture of graded aggregate, asphalt emul

Research is paramount in the development of better roads and safety. In a new series, Eurofile looks at the work and programmes of organisations dedicated to that end. In this issue: The German Federal Research Institute (BASt) The aims of BASt (an arm of the Federal Ministry of Transport) are to improve the cost-effectiveness of building and maintaining federal trunk roads, to increase the safety of road transport, to reduce the environmental impact produced by road traffic and construction and to improve

Kilsaran, a leading Irish contractor, building materials supplier and producer of concrete products, has completed construction of 11,000m² of hard standing at its first dedicated mortar plant using Vögele's most powerful wheeled paver. The plant in Brownstown, County Kildare, will produce a variety of mortars, including bagged products, for distribution throughout Ireland. The Vögele 1803-2 is one of four such machines operated by the company, and it complements a range of plant, including Hamm compaction

Concrete highway construction techniques and technology continues to evolve. Mike Woof reports The recent increases in oil costs are having a knock-on effect for the road construction sector, as asphalt prices have increased noticeably and faster than those for concrete. This has spurred renewed discussion over which construction technique now offers the best long term solution for road building. The debate between those in favour of concrete and those preferring asphalt for highway construction has been on

Special applications require stringent quality control and with compaction machines a key part of the paving process, their contribution can be vital. A high quality finish has helped athletes breaking sporting records on the track at the Shanghai Stadium in China during this year's 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Built in 1997 the stadium has been the venue for numerous major sporting events prior to the Olympics, however its track was showing signs of wear and the local authorities decided that a full refurbis

Modern asphalt plants are a far cry from the early models, and are capable of producing a wide variety of mixes at the touch of a button. Patrick Smith reports Cutting-edge software-based control technology makes today's asphalt mixing plants simple and efficient to operate. The tightening of clean air regulations is reducing the emissions from the plants, and the current focus is on the goal of raising the processed portion of reclaimed asphalt (RA) towards 100%, says Ammann Group, which has been involved

At Steinexpo 2008, Kleemann exhibited its MC 120 Z jaw crusher from the new generation of MOBICAT jaw crushers, as well as the mobile MOBISCREEN MS 16 D screening plant. The MC 120 Z, a classical quarrying machine, is also well suited for concrete recycling, says the German company, a member of the Wirtgen Group. With its 1,200mm wide and 800mm deep crusher inlet, it is designed for a feed capacity of up to 400tonnes/hr, and has a number of features that are said to contribute to its highly efficient operat

The cement factory with the highest output in Europe can be found some 130km east of Istanbul, Turkey, and belongs to NUH Cement. In 2007 the company's quarry in Hereke produced 4.3 million tonnes of limestone, and after on-site processing with additives such as gypsum, iron oxide and coal, this resulted in a yield of 5 million tonnes of Portland cement. Founded in 1966, the company's mission statement is to "serve Turkey's development programme with its production of cement, and huge investments in facilit