Features

The road business has benefited from fairly constant levels of trading in recent years and even during the downturn, construction operations only fell by a comparatively small quantity during the downturn. Darren Fitch, director for road machinery for the EMEA region within Volvo CE said, “The road construction sector has been far less cyclical than other construction markets.” The global market for road machinery is healthy at present and he said, “We’re having a good year.”

Efficient night-time paving operations can reduce construction costs and cut traffic delays - *Todd Mansell writes As roads become more congested, the user cost of daytime lane closures to accommodate road construction and paving has increased dramatically. One solution to lower user costs associated with traffic delays is to carry out more paving at night during off-peak times. However night-time paving brings new challenges to producing quality work in safely.

LiuGong claims to have retained its market leader position as Thailand’s top wheeled loader provider for the third consecutive year. The manufacturing juggernaut for extreme duty equipment entered the Thai market in 2011 and has sold 1,500 wheeled loaders in three years. President of LiuGong Machinery Asia Pacific Mr Chen Hao attributed the success to the brand’s consistent focus in understanding the wheeled loader industry’s needs and delivering products that are innovative, reliable and durable. L

Uganda has unveiled plans for the construction of two road projects considered critical in enhancing the integration of the Eastern African economies and boosting the landlocked country's socio-economic performance - Shem Oirere writes The new Rukungiri–Kihihi–Ishasha/Kanungu and Bumbobi-Bubulo-Lwakhakha roads in Uganda feature a design influenced by the desire to harmonise modern road standards in East Africa. These new links will also cater for the current acute shortage of gravel for road construction