Maintenance

South Africa's Transport Ministry has set out plans for a new road improvement programme. Called S'Hambe Sonke the US$3.04 billion programme will run for three years and tackle improvements to secondary roads. Filling potholes will be the priority of the plan, which is intended to employ up to 70,000 people during 2011 and help provide work. Labour intensive construction methods will be used according to the Transport Ministry, which means that many of the repairs will use traditional techniques rather than

Viatec says that the latest version of its Viafix instant cold road repair material offers speedy and reliable pothole repairs. The product has now been well-proven and is winning customers in the UK, such as Wiltshire County Council. Viafix is said to conform to customer needs for reduced repair costs and increased efficiency can cope with both wet and cold conditions and can be used in an array of rural and urban applications, whether traffic loads are heavy or light.

Ennis Prismo is introducing a new pothole reinstatement product called Repair and a novel temporary line marking system. The pothole product is said to be quick, easy and safe to use, as well as being inexpensive to purchase. This product requires little training to use and is said to be ready to carry traffic soon after installation. It is also said to provide a long-lasting repair even on roads with high traffic volumes. Meanwhile the temporary line marking system is said to offer high retroreflectivity e

UK firm Instarmac is aiming to expand its customer base for its innovative pothole patching systems. The firm now offers a broad range of repair products to suit asphalt and concrete road surfaces. These can be used to repair general pavement problems such as potholes or for repairing the areas around manhole covers and drains. The proven Instant Road Repair product is now said to offer better workability. This cold lay asphalt concrete product is approved in the UK for first time permanent repairs in class

Inge Zhou has been appointed as vice president of corporate communications for Volvo Construction Equipment newly formed China sales region. In her new role, Zhou will be based in Volvo CE's Shanghai office and report to regional president Laurence Luo. She will be responsible for all corporate communication activities within the region, as well as being a member of the China management team.

Jetpatcher UK will allow British local authorities to make "unprecedented" savings when repairing potholes on many of their less congested roads, according to its manufacturer Nu-Phalt. Built for rural highway repairs, theself-contained Jetpatcher clears the pothole using compressed air before applying tack coating and lling the pothole with mixture of aggregate and bitumen. A thin layer of pure aggregate is then used to cover the mix. Nu-Phalt claims the unit's high productivity is the key to its coste -

An example of Wacker Neuson's continuing product development is the new five model range of tracked dumpers with payload capacities spanning 500kg to 2.5tonnes. The three smaller units DT05, DT08 and DT12 are walk-behind/stand-on models with buyers of the smallest two having a choice of either petrol or diesel engines The bigger DT15 and DT25 are ride-on models and with the heaviest unit the operator's seat can be rotated through 180° so the driver can either look towards or away from the load when moving.