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JCB chief executive Alan Blake revealed record financial results for the UK machinery manufacturer during INTERMAT in Paris. Turnover in 2011 rose to US$4.37bn (€3.33bn), 37% up on 2010, with earnings before tax of €430m from sales of 69,100 machines. Speaking at the major construction industry show, Blake said: “The market has recovered by 80% since the last Intermat, mainly thanks to emerging markets. Russia is up 122%, India up 24% and Brazil is up 10%. However Western Europe has also improved, up 25% on

The latest data from Sri Lanka reveals a massive rise in road accidents and the deaths. Finding the root cause is not straightforward however and may be many complex causes for this scenario. Key factors have been identified by local experts however and these include reckless driving without adequate road discipline, the absence of an effective procedure for issuing driving licenses and a lack of any training procedures for drivers as well as other road users. Other key problems include deficiencies in the

Model&Co, a Spanish manufacturer of foundation engineering equipment, used INTERMAT to launch a fully automatic concrete grout mixer. ith advanced electronics, the new mixer uses a touch-screen control panel for the input of concrete powder ratio and water volumes. It can deliver up to 170litres/min of hydrogenised grout at working pressures of up to 115bar. The mixer drum can also be rotated 95° from its vertical position, to simplify washing out.

In Albania the government is giving its approval for an €80 million (US$104.4 million) loan being provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The project is for the Fier bypass, which forms part of the Tirana-Vlora highway. The project has faced a series of delays since work commenced a number of years ago. However this new funding will help ensure the work is completed

Just two days after announcing that it had been awarded two AutoPass tolling contracts, valued at over US$5 million, by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Q-Free yesterday announced that the company has won a frame agreement for deliveries of tolling tags (OBUs) from the Spanish operator, Abertis. The value of the frame agreement is US$5.2 million, with a guaranteed volume of US$2.15 million. Putting this key business win into context, Øyvind Isaksen, Q-Free CEO explained it is very important for

A financial package worth US$793 million is being provided by Chinese firm CDB Leasing for a highway project expansion programme in China’s Henan province. Henan currently has 5,196km of highways in use. The plan is to expand the network to more than 6,600km in 2015.

In Indonesia Jasa Marga is planning to build a 27km toll road project, which links Padang, West Sumatra's provincial capital with Sicincin district in 2012. Negotiations are underway between a number of contractors and the toll-road operator for the Padang toll road work. Cost savings on the cement supply operation should help reduce overall costs of the project. An investment of US$142 million is required for the toll road project.

Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Metro) working with prime contractor TransCore has commissioned the first of five reversible high occupancy toll (HOT) lane corridors. One of the most substantial undertakings of its kind to date in the United States, Metro’s conversion of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to HOT lanes will increase utilisation of the HOV system and subsequently relieve congestion in the general purpose freeway lanes. When completed, the programme will span 135k

Repair work is now planned on the first section of the St Petersburg ring road. The work will be carried out from Gorskaya to Primorskoe in 2013. Design work is underway at present. The 24km road will be widened to six lanes and the road structure will be revamped. The repair will end in 2015 and will cost some US$373 million. Work on the interchange in Bronka will commence in 2013 as well.

Kapsch TrafficCom has won an order, valued at just over US$355.5 million, for the implementation and operation of a nationwide electronic toll collection system in Belarus. The agreement signed by Erwin Toplak, COO of Kapsch TrafficCom, and Ivan I. Shcherbo, Minister for Transportation and Communication of the Republic of Belarus, extends over a total road network of 2,743km and is for both the implementation of a dedicated short-range communication based system as well as its operation over a 20 year pe