Materials

UK company Chepstow Plant (International) has placed orders for a further 40 Volvo Construction Equipment units in 2011.

Sandvik has introduced two new cone crushers, the CH890 and CH895, which it says are designed to increase performance in both secondary and tertiary/pebble crushing applications.The specially designed, strength-optimised topshell and dedicated crushing chambers of the CH895 model are said to make it ideal for tertiary and pebbles crushing while the CH890 topshell and crushing chambers are dedicated to secondary crushing. Both units have more power and increased crushing force in order to increase productivi

Plants for mixing asphalt are becoming more sophisticated than ever, while users are looking for ecological and technological benefits. Patrick Smith reports. When the Adige Bitumi Group decided to renew its old M 260 plant it chose to collaborate with Marini for the design and development of a plant with production of 280-300tonnes/hour.

MASSENZA, which manufactures bitumen handling equipment for worldwide export, is offering the latest and more advanced model of emulsion spraying tank, which has already received "very positive feedback from many contractors." This state-of-the-art unit is equipped with a small hot oil heater completely designed by MASSENZA, and this allows for a more gentle heating up of bituminous product inside the tanks, avoiding emulsion settlement and piping clogging problems (which could be there if direct flame burn

COMAP specialises in the production of industrial installations for bitumen heating, storing, spraying, transport and processing, and as well as its sprayer tanks with tube flame heating (with thermo oil heating of the spray unit), immersed pump and manual bar, it manufactures tanks heated by a thermal oil heater with an inner coil and hydraulic expanding spraying bar.

Among the exhibitors, Ammann will show its new BlackMove II asphalt mixing plant, one of many new machines and mixing plants on the company's stand.

Nurock Mixers has developed an innovative compact volumetric machine. Called the NUVM1.5, this unit was first seen as a prototype at the Intermat show in Paris in 2009 and is now being offered to the market. The NUVM1.5 can mix 1m³ of concrete in under three minutes using its combination of hoppers and hydraulics, while it can also produce screed, mortar or process recycled aggregates with a constant production rate at any cement content.

Manufacturers are producing innovative asphalt equipment, and operators are benefiting from this as Patrick Smithreports. Asphalt plant manufacturers and operators are understandably placing great emphasis on higher productivity but with lower costs. At the same time they are aware of environmental issues and the ever-increasing use of recycled material in mixes.

Wales is renowned for many things but dry weather is not one of them. A combination of being close to the Atlantic and having lots of mountains means that it rains a lot and this is bad news when fine screening limestone using conventional steel wire mesh, which tends to clog and blind over in damp weather.