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UK-based Cooper Research Technology has expanded into the US with the acquisition of James Cox & Sons, of Colfax, California in September 2012, and the appointment of US asphalt expert Dr Geoffrey Rowe as a non-executive director. Cox and Cooper are a good fit culturally. Both firms were founded by inventors – Jim Cox and Keith Cooper – and both are built on strong links with academia: Cox with UC Berkeley and Cooper with NTEC at Nottingham University. “It is the joint intention to be a customer focused bus

UK firm Carbolite has developed a new Asphalt Binder Analyser which it says simplifies and automates calculation of the asphalt binder content of hot mix asphalts (HMAs). Traditional binder content tests use solvents to extract the binder, whereas the ABA 7/35B Asphalt Binder Analyser uses a ‘loss on ignition’ test method. “This avoids the mess and chemical waste disposal issues of traditional solvent extraction based test methods,” said Carbolite’s product manager Alan Street. The ABA 7/35B Asphalt Binder

IPC Global has launched the EN Standards Tester, a servo-hydraulic testing machine which allows users to carry out all the most popular EN12687 tests for asphalt mixtures on one machine. The EN Standards Tester offers a cost-effective alternative to Universal Testing Machines (UTMs), said IPC Global’s chief executive officer Kieran McGrane. “This machine has been targeted at a specific number of tests, therefore it is more compact and more economical,” he explained. “UTMs are used mostly by research organis

New lane control solutions from major roadmarking companies have been installed on highways across the world over recent months. Guy Woodford reports on some of them. Clearview Traffic Group (CTG) recently clocked up the installation of over 70,000 Astucia active flush and surface mounted road studs in the UK. CTG has been involved in numerous road stud installation projects on motorways and other road types in the UK and many other countries worldwide. Its UK installations include over 4,500 Astucia road s

More efficient construction operations should be the benefit of the new technology from Leica Geosystems. The firm is introducing its latest Leica iCON telematics package, which is said to offer increased efficiency for machine control operations on site and remote machinery fleet management. The Leica iCON telematics package is a web-based suite of tools that allows contractors to increase the efficiency of machine control operations on site and manage machinery fleets. This is a key component in iCONnect,

As the shift towards performance-based pavement design continues, testing equipment manufacturers are responding with new solutions for their customers - Kristina Smith reports. CONTROLS Group is launching a new dedicated asphalt division, PAVELAB SYSTEMS. The move signals a desire on the part of the manufacturer to offer a more partnership-style approach, working with customers to provide them with the right asphalt testing solutions at every stage of a pavement’s design and construction. “The mission of o

Several manufacturers are offering improved earthmoving machines, with more to come - Mike Woof reports. One of the most notable developments comes from Caterpillar, with the unveiling of a hybrid excavator in the shape of its 336E H model. The machine is having its public launch at the bauma exhibition in Spring 2013 and will start rolling out of the factory in March 2013, while customers will be able to place orders from February 2013. Unlike other hybrid excavators on the market at present, the Cat 336E