Earthmoving & soil compaction

Tobroco, a Dutch compact wheeled loader manufacturer, reports that its Giant D337 model is now available with higher specifications, the X-TRA version. The D337T X-TRA loader has a lower front frame making for a lower centre of gravity and an increased lifting capacity. The machine has a tipping load of 2,054kg in comparison with 1,450kg for the standard model. The new wheeled loader has a 24.6kW 3-cylinder Kubota diesel engine and comes with a hydraulic pump from Bosch Rexroth.

Tunnelling equipment from Chinese firm XCMG has played an important role in a project in Montenegro. The work was carried out by contractor CCCC Tunnel Engineering Company and involved the excavation of the Jabuka Tunnel Works. This link forms part of the North-South Expressway of Montenegro and was completed on schedule recently. The link is of note as it is the first-ever expressway in Montenegro. Due to the country’s hills, a stretch of tunnel was a necessity.

New developments in tunnelling technologies offer contractors greater efficiencies when constructing new bores. Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are widely being used in major projects such as the Brenner Base Tunnel in the Austrian Alps. Full face TBMs are highly sophisticated machines featuring a rotating drilling head, which removes the material, and, depending on the type of construction, secures the excavated tunnel with shotcrete, rock bolts and wire mesh or prefabricated segments of reinforced concrete.

Machines from Sandvik are playing important roles in the construction of a new tunnel connection to Hong Kong. The Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point (BCP for short) is a series of infrastructure projects that will see the construction of the latest land crossing between Shenzhen in China and Hong Kong. This project includes the construction of highways and tunnels. The crushing and drilling equipment from Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology being used for the work is being supported by Sandvik’

Huge numbers of construction machines as well as plant and equipment are working overtime, backed by mammoth manpower, to meet the targeted completion deadline of March 2018 for India’s Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE). The 135km arterial route is being built with six lanes and surrounds India’s National Capital, Delhi, its National Capital Region (NCR) and the industrially developed North Indian states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Hamm pioneered the concept of compaction using oscillation rather than vibration and now offers a wide range of machines with this feature, both for soil and asphalt applications. The firm has developed a strong following for its oscillating compactor range, with many contractors now appreciating the benefit of this technology.

Moscow’s CTT exhibition reflected increasing confidence in the Russian construction market - Eugene Gerden reports. The Russian road building industry is steadily recovering from the consequences of the financial crisis and the overall financial uncertainty in in the country. One of the most evident facts for this was the record number of exhibitors at the recent CTT Expo for construction machines held in Moscow.