News

German equipment technology specialist MOBA is increasing its stake in the Finnish firm Novatron. MOBA Mobile Automation has acquired an additional 24% stake in the Finish excavator system manufacturer Novatron and now holds a 49% total share of the business. ”The steady market growth in Scandinavia, the successful cooperation during the last three years and a close cooperation with OEM customers“, explained David Shelstad, MOBA’s vice president, as the main reasons for MOBA’s decision to intensify the part

Volvo Construction Equipment says growth in mature markets is the biggest contribution to its 10% sales increase in the first quarter of 2014, compared to the same three months of last year. The first three months of this year saw improved earnings on the back of increased sales, deliveries and order intake. The period also saw the launch of a new range of Volvo CE Tier 4 Final/Stage IV compliant models.

The ERF is making final preparations for its 2014 symposium event, which will be held on 18th June in Brussels. Titled “Future Road Infrastructure Challenges”, the event will be held at the EU Thon Hotel. Key topics will include; future road safety challenges, intelligent transport systems, financing, sustainability, innovation. The symposium is aimed at professionals in the roads sector wishing to gain additional knowledge in these key areas and wanting insight into the latest developments in terms of tech

In Australia, New South Wales state government agency Transport for NSW is to conduct a large-scale trial of a system that ‘sees’ around corners and over the crest of hills, warning truck drivers of hazards up to 1km away. The trial of the Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) technology will run for five years, using 95 MK4 anti-collision devices provided by Cohda Wireless communicating with roadside hardware on a dedicated 5.9GHz frequency. The first phase will launch in mid-2014, with 30 v

Three of China’s provinces, Jiangsu, Shanxi and Sichuan, have announced plans to invest in infrastructure expansion. Jiangsu Province has set an impressive infrastructure budget. Some US$11.38 billion has been earmarked for transportation infrastructure projects during 2014. Of the total, $4.53 billion will be invested into road construction projects, while some $454.8 million will be targeted at the construction of civil airports.

Data from a new government report show that if all the structurally deficient bridges in the United States were placed end-to-end, it would take 25 hours to cross them while driving at 100km/h. The total distance is around 2,500km, roughly the distance between Boston and Miami. The Washington, DC-based American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is highlighting these findings in a new analysis of US bridge conditions. ARTBA has a list of the top 250 structurally deficient US bridges, state r

The Latvian Ministry of Transport plans to spend more than €135 million upgrading 300 road bridges across Latvia by 2020. According to the Ministry, Latvia's national road network includes only 196 bridges that are in good condition and 223 bridges in a satisfactory condition. As much as 55% of all 943 bridges in Latvia are said to be in poor or very poor condition.

Universal LRT Corp (ULC), the concessionaire for the MRT-7 Light Rail and Road Project in the Philippines, is expected to commence works on the project this year. ULC has said that the proposed investment in the project, due for completion by mid-2018, has been increased from US$1.24 billion to $1.54 billion. Works will be undertaken by Marubeni of Japan. A 22km six-lane highway from San Jose del Monte City to North Luzon Expressway will form a key part of the project.

Balfour Beatty has secured its third Regional Technology Maintenance Contract (RTMC) from the Highways Agency. This deal is worth some €10.56 million (£8.7 million) over five years. The package involves maintaining around 28,000 technology assets on behalf of the Highways Agency and will cover both the Highways Agency’s Area 7 (the East Midlands) and Area 9 (the West Midlands). The technology service provided by Balfour Beatty includes responsibility for managing and maintaining road-side technology systems