News

The next time you are worried or irritated about changing a flat tyre, don’t be. Just be grateful that the vehicle is not moving. Be grateful that your car is also not being driven along on only two wheels. This five-minute video is a tribute to a lot of things, not least the driver’s skill in keeping the SUV up on two wheels and steady enough for the five people working on the tyre change. But consider the skills of those changing the tyres.

It was a heart-stopping moment late one night as a car approached an 8m tall animal that was blocking the road. Most people, seeing what should have been an extinct dinosaur – a triceratops – in their path would have turned and run in the opposite direction. But for people in the English village of Godsill, on the Isle of Wight, the dinosaur was a well-known resident, albeit not a living animal. Chris Hollingshead snapped the photo and put it on his Facebook, which can be seen by clicking here.

Canadian love their ice fishing, but sometimes it gets just a little chilly out there on a windswept lake, especially when it is already -20C with no wind-chill factored in. Some people have tents and some have small portable protective huts big enough for one person. But there is a better way to head out across a frozen lake, as this do-it-yourself ice fisherman shows.

Construction firm STRABAG says that its performance in the 2015 financial year was ‘satisfactory’ and that its outlook for 2016 is positive. “We closed an overall satisfactory year in 2015 with a higher output volume on nearly unchanged employee levels and a lower order backlog. In 2016 we want to maintain the output volume at its high level and raise our EBIT margin to 3%. Thanks to our improved risk management and cost reductions, we are confident that we will reach this goal after having also succeeded i

An upswing is being seen in construction machine sales in Italy, according to the latest official figures. The data from the Samoter-Prometeia Observatory reveal increases in key markets. Gains have been seen in Europe (+7.7%), Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey (+3.7%), North America (+23.1%), Central and South America (+6.3%), Middle East (+26.3%), Asia (+28.7%), Australia (+23.5%) and Africa (+2.5%). However the figures also show another sharp fall in Russia (-62.8%).

The IRF is looking for applicants for its 2016 IRF Global Road Achievement Awards. Founded in 2000, the IRF's Global Road Achievement Awards competition recognises exceptional projects across 12 categories. The last call for applications will be on April 11th, 2016. The 2016 winners will be recognised at the 2nd IRF Asia Regional Congress & Exhibition, which will be held October 16th-20th in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Year end results for Comer Industries showed revenue down at €327 million, a 9.4% dip from €361 million for fiscal year 2014. However, the company reported that excluding the sale of the electric wheel product line in January last year, the revenue drop would have been 5%. Comer Industries is based in Reggiolo, Italy and has around 1,240 employees. It designs and manufactures advanced engineering systems and mechatronic solutions for power transmission for major producers of agricultural and industrial ma

MTU Friedrichshafen and Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Company will set up a 50/50 joint venture to manufacture MTU diesel engines in China. MTU Friedrichshafen, a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce Power Systems, and Guangxi Yuchai Machinery (GYMCL), part of China Yuchai International Limited, will each invest €10.5 million in the joint venture. The joint venture will be based at Guangxi’s primary manufacturing facilities in Yulin City in Guangxi Province, southern China. Production is expected to start in 2017 and

Canada-based Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers has acquired the online equipment listing service Mascus International Holding for US$26.6 million in cash. The deal gives Ritchie Bros. 100% of the equity in Mascus, subject to working capital adjustments under the terms of the share purchase agreement. Mascus will continue to operate under its branding and management team. The company lists more than 360,000 items for sale and gets around 3.2 million monthly website visits across 58 countries and in 42 language

The Chilean government reached its goal of tendering infrastructure projects worth US$1.1 billion in 2015, its first year in power, but will likely miss its 2016 target of $1.5 billion by next month. This has been unofficially confirmed by the Ministry of Public Works, which has stated that it will not be possible to announce new tenders over the coming weeks. The projects with delays include the new Rancagua-Alhue and Santiago-Marga Marga-Quillota roads, as well as the creation of a dual carriageway on the

Colombia's National Road Institute (Invias) has reported that engineering firm Enrique Davila Lozano (EDL) is carrying out the second phase of feasibility studies and designs for construction of the Conexion Pacifico-Orinoquia road. The highway will link the Valle del Cauca department with the Orinoquia region. Consortium Consorcio SMA-TEC 4 is compiling the inventory during the second phase. Conexion Pacifico-Orinoquia will pass through Meta, Vichada, Guaviare, Casanare, Tolima, and Huila. The

Interest is strong in the project to build and operate La Raza-Indios Verdes-Santa Clara road concession in Mexico. Seven firms have expressed interest in the La Raza-Indios Verdes-Santa Clara road concession. Caabsa, Constructora Garza Ponce, Ideal, Idinsa, OHL Mexico, Omega and Pinfra and are all in the running for the project at present. The winner of the tender process for the 10km route will be announced on 21st April 2016. The road will be built under the public-private partnership model and the conce