Products

In Turkey a man has received widespread acclaim for his bravery. A fuel tanker caught fire at a filling station and the man initially tried to stem the flames but when he realised his efforts were fruitless, and as others ran for safety, the man jumped into the cab and drove the burning truck away. Flames shot from the rear of the truck as he drove it to a safe distance from the filling station, located in izmir province.

A group of cycling enthusiasts recently spent five days riding 'Penny Farthing' type historic bicycles from French capital paris to UK capital London. The hardy group braved inclement weather and serious discomfort on their solid-tyred bicycles, not to mention risking life and limb. The bicycles date from the 1880s and are notoriously hard to mount and stop.

Police in the US state of Michigan recently managed to stop a vehicle that had been taken without its owner's consent, with a seven year old boy at the wheel. The boy was dressed only in pyjamas and took his mother's Pontiac for a 32km drive before the police were able to apprehend him. The boy had been staying at his mother's house and decided he wanted to go and see his father, so he took the keys and the car. A member of the public saw the boy driving the car and alerted the police who gave pursuit. The

A fleet of 53 Dynapac machines is being used by a Chinese consortium to build the central and western sections of the 1,216km Algerian East-West Expressway. The consortium comprises CITIC and CRCC and was awarded the contract for the 169km central and 359km western sections of highway.

Car owners and sales people in Afghanistan are struggling to come to terms with the changing whims of personal taste in this conservative country. Car sales are growing fast, however customers are now averse to buying vehicles with the number 39 in the licence plate. The number has been linked to a notorious figure in iran's criminal underworld, known for his expensive car and which bears the number 39. The man is now nicknamed number 39 and as his notoriety has grown, so drivers in afghanistan's capital Ka

A new Swedish safety device can reduce risks for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. The Amparo SeeMe warning system is said to reduce traffic speeds and raise driver awareness for cyclists or at pedestrian crossings. The system links an automatic radio tag carried by the pedestrian or cyclist to trigger solar-powered lights on bus stops or at crossings, to provide warnings to drivers.

A group of Canadian visitors to the US state of Washington recently received safety aid from the forces of law and order. the Washington state troopers assisted a gaggle of canada geese to safety after drivers spotted the birds on a busy stretch of road. The state troopers reacted by closing two lanes of traffic and then assisted the birds in leaving the highway at the next exit. the containment procedure took just 20 minutes and the birds were able to exit the road unharmed by their experience.

The State of Pernambuco in north-eastern Brazil has some of the country's most beautiful beaches, and on the peninsula of Cabo de Santo Agostinho a luxury resort has sprung up with apartments (condominios) and hotels for international tourists. To give the resort a convenient, fast link to the coastal highway, the Via Parque consortium is building a bridge over the Jaboatão River, which separates the peninsula from the mainland.

A new and more durable belt cleaner is available from conveyor specialist Superior Industries. This belt scraper is designed to offer extended cleaning capabilities and fewer change-outs. The Exterra cleaner features more urethane and is said to offer a bulky profile and a beefy tip, all of which extends life.

The addition of four towed-scraper models to the Cat product line positions Caterpillar as the leading manufacturer of hauling systems for the earthmoving industry, claims the company. The new models, TS180 and TS220 with two rear wheels and TS185 and TS225 with four rear wheels, feature an innovative, heavy-duty design and large load capacities for durable productivity in construction applications.

The first batch of 24 New Holland E245B Multifunction military green crawler excavators for the Italian Army has been given its final testing at the San Mauro Torinese plant in Italy. New Holland Construction employees were present as well as technicians from the Testing Commission of UTT Turin

The new four cylinder 3.4 litre diesel from Perkins Engines completes the firm's Tier 4 Interim/Stage IIIB product line-up. The 854 Series is said to offer improved power density in a compact package to suit an array of applications. This engine comes in addition to the 1200 Series, which was recently introduced.

Braunstein + Berndt has released a new SoundPLAN version, SoundPLAN 7.0, and a main feature of this is the new calculation core employing the Dynamic Search scanning method. This, according to the company, makes it possible to calculate anything, no matter how complex the geometry and no matter what size the project.

Atlas Copco says the latest addition to its medium breaker range, the MB 750 hydraulic breaker, is aimed at meeting the major market demand of reducing the lifecycle cost of machinery and tools. "Two-thirds of the lifecycle cost of a breaker is made up by factors such as operator cost, energy and fuel consumption, as well as service and maintenance costs," says Atlas Copco.

New Holland's new E 245B Multifunction crawler excavator for ground and medium reach demolition applications allows operators to use a single machine for operations normally requiring two different ones. The E245B Multifunction Demolition completes the company's offering for demolition applications and for multi-function functionalities, and benefits from an improved cab, low emission engine technology and improved hydraulics for higher control and improved productivity.