Features

Students from nearly two dozen universities entered the 2008 IRF Essay Competition. Each student was asked to submit an essay which addressed a topic under this year's theme of road safety The winner was Allison Daniello, a junior mechanical engineering student at Virginia Tech. She completed her paper, titled 'Motorcycle-Guardrail Crashes: How can the risk of severe injury and fatality be reduced?' under the supervision of Dr Clay Gabler. Her work was selected by a panel of international judges with expert

The second comprehensive transport study of Jiangsu Province is a good example of road policy in action. Samuel C F Wong, Technical Director, Scott Wilson Ltd explains Jiangsu Province on the eastern coast of China, with a population of 76 million, is one of the fastest growing in the country. Between 1990 and 2007 GDP growth averaged some 16%/year. Economic growth, however, has not occurred evenly. Two-thirds of the province's wealth has accumulated in its southern half. With Jiangsu's rapid economic expan

Construction in China still appears to be on course for growth even with the gloomy economic outlook, as it enjoys "a strong budgets position." Patrick Smith reports One thing is certain in the current global economic climate: nothing is certain. And while China has not been unaffected by the economic events of recent months it has, according to Robert Zoellinck, president of the World Bank, a very strong current account and budgetary position. For some years, the nation has enjoyed double digit growth (the

The recycling and minerals extraction markets now share technologies, Mike Woof reports Not surprisingly, the Steinexpo quarrying event in Germany was a key launch venue for new crushing and screening technologies, as well as associated quarrying technology. Crushing and screening equipment firms from a wide range of European countries including Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK were present at the exhibition. However it was noticeable how closely the miner

Wirtgen is broadening its recycling equipment line-up with its latest KMA220 RAP plant. This mobile machine has been designed to meet a need from contractors for a versatile plant that can be set up quickly when needed. The machine offers a mixing capacity of up to 220 tonnes/hour for the production of high-quality cold mixes for use on major highways carrying heavy traffic volumes from recycled material. The KMA220 replaces the earlier KMA200 model and offers a 10% increase in throughput. Power comes from

Increasingly, and where possible, roads are being built in tunnels often for environmental reasons, writes Patrick Smith As part of the new M7 motorway development in the southwest of Ireland, the four-lane route crosses the River Shannon near Limerick, before it flows into the Atlantic. Centrepiece of the 10km long Limerick Southern Ring Road is the required tunnelling (675m long), which including the north and south entrance and exit ramps, means it will be 915m long. Completion of the work is planned for

Built in 1937 and still the ninth longest suspension bridge in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge across San Francisco Bay remains in fine shape despite its age - Andrew Bardin Williams writes The Golden Gate Bridge turned 75 years old on May 27 and continues to play a key role in the transportation, engineering, construction and ITS communities. The structure has played an important historical role, an engineering success that boosted the economy of the region. And it also led the way as the first major pub

In 2006 Traficon won the first project on the world's first artificial island, the iconic Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, to provide incident detection and traffic data collection along the main arterial road. The technology used included 18 detection units and was won with Siemens Building Technology. The company also won the contract for the tunnel: 26 detection units, in cooperation with Japanese Kinden Corporation. "The Palm Jumeirah vehicular tunnel is in fact the third tunnel (the others are the airport tunne

Sandvik is rolling out a range of sophisticated tunnelling jumbo drilling rigs, equipped with advanced automation features. The new DTi models feature wide coverage and powerful HX5T drifters that enable them to carry out large and small and tunnelling jobs. To optimise operation, the four machines can use Sandvik's latest iSURE software, which allows blasting operations to be designed on a PC and then downloaded onto the rigs using conventional USB memory sticks: this allows full automation of the face dri

A major tunnel project in the Swedish capital Stockholm will mean that roads in a residential area will be safe from workmen repairing power cables. The tunnel will not be visible when completed, but its importance to the city's development is considerable. It means 10km of high voltage cable cutting through a residential area will be replaced with cables laid through the new tunnel, providing sufficient land for some 3,000 badly-needed new homes in an area divided down the middle by Lake Mälaren and the Ba

In 2002, bridge conditions in the State of Oregon were declining. Projections were made that 30% of Oregon's bridges would have weight restriction within 8-years, causing a productivity loss to Oregon's economy of US$123 billion including 88,000 jobs. By 2012, Oregon’s State Bridge Delivery Program had been recognized nationally and internationally with awards for excellence and innovation, most recently scooping IRF’s Global Road Achievement Award for Quality Management.