Asphalt milling, paving & compaction

UK company Aggregate Industries is now using a Super 1302-2 model paver from Vögele for on the island of Guernsey. The company's Guernsey subsidiary Ronez is using the machine for maintaining the island's narrow lanes as well as other paving duties.

Chile's highway system has fared remarkably well considering the severity of the massive earthquake that struck the country a few days ago. This is a crucial factor in ensuring that emergency help, food and other aid can reach the worst affected area in the south of the country quickly. The Vespucio Norte highway collapsed and while the Costanera Norte route was slightly damaged, the Vespucio Sur and Autopista Central highways were unaffected.

Delays are now expected on work to upgrade the Dhaka-Chittagong highway to dual carriageway status. This delay has been caused by a dispute with the consultant, the National Engineer Service of Pakistan (Nespak). The firm was contracted to monitor implementation of the project but is now requesting a larger fee to carry out the work.

Cooper Technology, among the leaders in the design and manufacture of computercontrolled testing equipment for asphaltic and unbound materials, has unveiled its next generation of intelligent technology. New developments to the pioneering company's standalone four-point bending beam (BB) machine SA4PT Control Unit MKII that facilitates the rapid throughput of modulus and fatigue tests, now integrates the fully automated software of the Beam Flex V3 1.0.

A loan from the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help Sri Lanka rebuild roads damaged by its civil war. The US$154.4 million credit facility will be put toward projects such as repairing or replacing bridges and around 140km of provincial roads that were damaged in the north of Sri Lanka, where the civil war was most intense.

The Wirtgen Group has held a highly successful Technology Days event at the brand new Kleemann facility in Göppingen near Stuttgart. Some 2,600 people attended this year's event, the largest of the three held so far by the firm. A key focus for this year was highlighting the full integration of the Kleemann crushing equipment operation within the Wirtgen Group. The previous Technology Days events were held at the Hamm facility in Tirschenreuth and at the Wirtgen headquarters in Windhagen. Following the Kle

MOBA Mobile Automation says that its PAVE-IR system is designed to improve paving by offering a new, non-destructive method for detecting thermal segregation in real time. Segregation is a leading cause of premature failure in asphalt roads and the system uses infrared sensors to produce a thermal profile for the entire project. PAVE-IR is said to deliver real-time QC/QA data to the operator on a colour touch screen and stores the files for additional analysis in the office. The complete job is documented w

Ireland's Ministry of Transport is focussing on road maintenance rather than building new links at present. With the country’s economy still struggling under a burden of debt, finances are limited. Around 30 road maintenance projects are planned to be carried out in in Ireland during 2012. The Irish Government intends to invest around €200 million/year on road maintenance until its finances improve. New road projects are being delayed and will be held back until 2016 or 2017.

Following one of the coldest winters in recent memory, Britain’s roads have stacked up an estimated £10 billion (€11.5 billion) repair bill just for potholes. These are caused by the freeze/thaw cycle: water seeps into cracks in the road surface, expands when frozen and then breaks up when it thaws. It has been estimated that in Britain there is at least one pothole for every 110m (sometimes many more) and that it will take at least 15 years to fix the problem.