Materials

Transylvania Motorway: route to prosperity

July 4, 2012

Work is progressing apace on the biggest infrastructure project in Europe, the Transylvania Motorway or Autostrada Transilvania (A3) in Romania, with completion scheduled for 2013. The four-lane, 415km motorway, stretching northwest from Brasov in central Romania, at an altitude of nearly 600m, will reach the country's northwestern border with Hungary at Oradea in Câmpia Crisanei at 130m above sea level, and will connect the cities of Brasov, Fagaras, Sighisoara, Târgu Mures, Cluj-Napoca, Zalau and Oradea.

Italian viaduct job for Conjet

July 4, 2012

The multi-span reinforced concrete viaduct at Torano, about 100km east of the Italian capital Rome, is a major structure on the main E80/A24/A25 Autostrada crossing central Italy. The Viadotto Fiume Salto was opened in the late 1960s, but the use of de-icing salts during winter months has since caused considerable calcium chloride damage to the structure forcing the Italian Highways Authority and the Autostrada di Parchi's owner Toto to carry out extensive repairs. The renovation estimated at around €5 mill

Developments in asphalt compaction machines

July 4, 2012

Mike Woof reviews the latest compaction market developments In the run-up to the upcoming World of Asphalt event in Orlando, Florida in March, the leading compaction equipment firms are rolling out upgraded and improved machines. With market conditions tough worldwide, customers are also likely to be encouraged with competitive deals on purchasing new machines and replacing ageing fleets.

Predicting a big increase in asphalt production

July 4, 2012

With new roads to be built and existing ones to be maintained, one company is predicting a big increase in asphalt production Asphalt plant manufacturer Ammann says that four factors in particular will shape the future of the asphalt industry. The company, which has sold its first JustBlack asphalt mixing plant to Costa Rica through its Spanish distribution partner, EMSA, says that many more roads have yet to be built in the world. "Building the global road network will provide work for many generations to

High production hyper-mobile asphalt plant

July 4, 2012

Hyper-mobility is constantly demanded by customers who favour continuous plants, especially in France. However, compromises must always be sought in the high output equipment range, says Ermont (part of the FAYAT Group), and major progress has been made in the parallel flow field with the 500tonne/hr and 600tonne/hr TSM plants, whereas the Rétroflux type of the counterflow plants have lagged somewhat behind. This gap has now been closed with the development of the hyper-mobile RF 400, capable of producing 4

Aggregate data aids hot mix asphalt production

July 4, 2012

Hot-mix asphalt (HMA) is produced at specialised facilities where various mixtures of aggregate are heated and dried, combined with liquid asphalt cement (also known as bitumen), and either stored in insulated silos or loaded into trucks and transported to a job site. Aggregate heating and drying is accomplished with various types of dryers, depending on whether a batch or continuous process is used. The continuous mix process uses aggregate drum dryers, designed to heat and dry measured quantities of grave

Bitumen technology ideal for road repairs

July 4, 2012

Mike Woof discusses some novel developments relating to bitumen In the developed countries of Western Europe there is an increasing shift away from new highway construction to maintaining and rebuilding existing roads. In Germany alone, a network of asphalt roads extending more than 600,000km will have to be maintained or repaired. Highway maintenance techniques do vary between European countries but some commonalities exist. There are techniques that have been sidelined in the last few years but which now

Cold milling popular for road materials recycling

July 4, 2012

Milling techniques remain one of the most widely used recycling methods Well-proven, cold milling techniques remain one of the most widely used methods for materials recycling in road construction. Milled road materials can be cleaned up and re-used in both asphalt and concrete highway construction. German firm Wirtgen has long dominated the market for road milling machines and has the largest share of the sector (as well as the broadest product range), although other firms based in Europe and the US are be

Fast concrete placement

July 2, 2012

DB Concrete in the UK is now using a novel Liebherr LTB 12+4+1 concrete truckmixer/conveyor machine. Mounted on a Mercedes Actross 3241K chassiscab, the conveyor is matched to Liebherr's well-proven and best-selling HTM804L drum assembly. DB Concrete runs a fleet of concrete truckmixers in the Colchester area and recently updated its fleet with two new Liebherr truckmixers with drum capacities of 7m³ and 8m³. The firm opted for the machine with the conveyor unit as it believed this would offer significant o

In the wash

June 19, 2012

Aggregate Processing Solutions (APS) is now offering CDE washing equipment to its contract washing customers after the signing of a new agreement. APS says it has taken delivery of the M2500 mobile washing plant and Aggmax portable logwasher in response to a rise in demand throughout the UK market. John Dunne, managing director of APS, said: “The addition of the CDE modular washing range ensures our customers have access to the most efficient washing systems on the market.”