News

Volvo Construction Equipment sold a record 84,000 machines in 2011. The company believe its ascendancy in the Chinese market was a key factor behind the landmark.

Concern has been expressed in Austria over the potential costs of upgrading the country’s road network to cope with 60tonne trucks measuring up to 25.5m long. The introduction of these massive ‘gigaliners’ has been proposed across the EC. But Austrian highway operator Asfinag has said that upgrading the country’s roads, highways, bridges and tunnels to make them suitable for gigaliners would cost some €5.4 billion. Asfinag has also expressed its concern over the safety issues surrounding these vehicles due

Chinese construction equipment firm Sany is buying Putzmeister, the German manufacturer of concrete pumps. The terms of the deal have not been revealed officially but the acquisition is said to be worth €360-500 million according to various reports.

Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology, an existing Scania customer since 2008, has ordered 375 trucks which will be used as a platform for mobile concrete pumps. Said to be the world’s largest concrete machinery manufacturer, the company's largest mobile concrete pumps, which have a span up to 80 metres, are mounted on Scania’s 4- and 5-axle truck chassis with 6-cylinder 420-470 hp engines.

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Alijev, has reportedly approved an agreement that will see Serbia receive US$407.75million for the construction of a section of the Belgrade to South Adriatic motorway. The loan for the motorway section between Ljig and Preljina will be repayable over a 15 year period, with a grace period of three years and a fixed interest rate of 4%. The construction project, which will include five tunnels and over 60 bridges, will be carried out by the Azerbaijan-based company Azvirt

The authorities in China have revealed that construction of the Fuzhou section of the new Beijing-Taipei highway will commence by late May 2012. The two-way four-lane expressway will have a design speed of 100km/h. The 53km Fuzhou section is expected to cost some US$1.04 billion to construct. This section of highway will take four years to complete.

The company handling the Fehmarnbelt tunnel project that will connect Denmark and Germany has confirmed that the project will now be delayed. Femern has now revealed that construction will not start before summer 2015, a year later than originally planned. Denmark is expected to commence its environmental compatibility study in May 2013.

A majority of Americans believe new transportation projects should be paid for with user-fees instead of tax increases, according to a new national Reason-Rupe poll of 1,200 adults on cell phones and land lines.

Some $1.6 billion in funding is being provided from US federal funds to states and territories across the nation to cover the costs of repairing roads and bridges damaged by natural disasters. Funding from the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Emergency Relief Programme was provided by the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012.

UK engineering firm DavyMarkham is now owned by Indian company, Hindustan Dorr Oliver (HDO). The Indian firm is a subsidiary of IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects and this acquisition provides HDO with an entry into the heavy engineering market.

Swedish-based Volvo Construction Equipment has appointed Pat Olney as its new president and CEO, effective from 1 May.