Features

Ever tightening aggregate specifications for road surfacing materials is driving more quarries to wash their materials. Claire Symes looks at the technology and the implications for the industry Stricter aggregates specifications for both asphalt and concrete surfacing materials and the need to make the best use of all extracted material is driving greater use of washing equipment in the quarrying industry. But the latest washing and recycling technology means that this growth does not have to significantly

There are various ways of building a tunnel, and for excavation jobs many contractors prefer to use versions of standard machines that have instead been converted to suit the confines of tunnelling applications. Some contractors opt to adapt their own units and with ventilation being an issue in underground work, engine emissions are a key focus when adapting machines. Exhaust filters and other after treatment solutions are usually required and there are an array of off-the-shelf packages available as well

Automatic 3D machine guidance is a highly sophisticated area and a high level of expertise is often required to ensure applications of the advanced technologies work as desired. Fugro is a specialist firm that has gained experience using 3D guidance tools over many years and for certain tricky projects, Hexagon, the parent of Leica Geosystems, has turned to Fugro for assistance. For one difficult job in particular, Fugro's specialists were brought in at the request of an Icelandic contractor. The project ca

IRF has created a new Task Force on Pavement Preservation/Road Asset Management during its inaugural Executive Seminar on Pavement Preservation. The new task force's first meeting on 6 August, 2009 was chaired by Dr. Carlos Chang of the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) and 16 international delegates from various sectors of the road industry participated.

The Tanzania Roads Association (TARA) in cooperation with IRF and the global Transport Knowledge Partnership (gTKP) is organising a major international convention on rural roads. This will provide a rare opportunity for governments, agencies, the private sector, NGOs and other stakeholders to come together and exchange the very latest experience and research on rural roads and transport in Africa and other developing regions. This 2009 Convention, being held in Arusha, Tanzania from 25-27 November, 2009, is

Blair Turner examines infrastructure options for achieving Safe System outcomes and their implementation in Australia Like a number of other developed countries around the world, Australia has recently adopted a 'Safe System' approach to addressing road safety. This approach, which stems from Sweden's Vision Zero and Sustainable Safety in the Netherlands, recognises that humans as road users are fallible and will make mistakes. There are also limits to the kinetic energy exchange that humans can tolerate (

New safety regulations and high traffic volumes require new tunnel construction all across Europe. Mike Woof reports Anew highway tunnel now being built in Austria will boost traffic volumes and safety standards on a key European route. The existing Pfänder Tunnel lies close to Austria's borders with Germany and Switzerland and carries a heavy traffic volume, so a new parallel tunnel is under construction to help spread this load, increasing capacity as well as safety. Stringent tunnel safety standards have

Roads Australia is encouraging its members to get behind TravelSmart, the government-led campaign to promote sustainable transport alternatives and reduce our reliance on private cars. A number of TravelSmart initiatives and programmes were highlighted at a recent meeting of RA's Congestion Chapter. It was stressed at the meeting that Roads Australia members could set an example for the community by getting its organisations more involved in the programme.