Features

Advanced road recycling capabilities are offered by Wirtgen. Having started as a contractor, Wirtgen’s roots in this side of the business are strong and the company’s development of road recycling systems has become a core competence, originating as an offshoot of its contract work. Wirtgen’s leading position in the milling machine market continues and although an increasing number of rival firms offer machines, the company’s share of this segment remains dominant. With demand for machines having grown in 2

Innovations in drilling and blasting and crushing and screening are bringing major economies of scale to aggregate production operations. Drilling and blasting is an area where new technology is offering major saving to quarrying companies. This is another important factor in the quarrying process, as inefficient drilling and blasting can have major financial repercussions.

The third edition of IRF's signature event in the Gulf region gathered over 450 regional and international delegates amid calls for concerted efforts to meet the challenges posed by the region's growing demand for personal mobility and increased movement of goods

Potters Europe is launching its new on site road marking technical support service. The new service is headed by Potters Europe technical service engineer Jason Prince, who was using the Traffex exhibition in Birmingham, UK, to advise visitors about the benefits of the new service, which he says will assist customers in applying reflective road markings to achieve optimum performance.

Compact compaction units are delivering increased performance – Mike Woof reports. Competition is tough in the market for non-ride-on compaction units, with two manufacturers now introducing revamped models. Both JCB and Wacker Neuson aim to claim a larger section of the market with their latest designs, compaction plates and remote-controlled trench rollers respectively.

The new noise-damped cab for Volvo‘s single drum soil compactors is said to make the machines more comfortable to operate for a full working shift. The comprehensively redesigned one-piece cab is now fitted on Volvo’s latest SD70, SD77, SD115, SD130 and SD160 single drum soil compactors. The noise damping is said to radically reduce the sound levels at the operator’s ear, which is said to cut fatigue levels over the full working shift.

The Wirtgen Group is developing its manufacturing facilities outside of Germany. The company has extensive operations in Brazil and China and has now opened a new plant in India, which has started production already. Joint president Stefan Wirtgen said, “The first machine we made was a Hamm compactor. It is specially developed for the Indian market.”

New machines are now coming to the international market, with Chinese firms producing a particularly strong showing. At the last BICES exhibition in Chinese capital Beijing, one of the most notable developments was how many of the country’s equipment manufacturers now offer ranges of soil compaction and/or asphalt compaction equipment.