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The organisers of the bauma exhibition in Germany predict a positive future for the construction market in 2016. Large increases are expected in the North American market while there are also pPositive trends in the Near and Middle East. Last year North America and Europe were the most dynamic construction machinery markets in the world according to data from the bauma organisers. Some market experts believe that this trend could continue in 2015. This is one of the reasons why the market in construction

Surface dressing of highways is a demanding precision process where speed and accuracy is paramount. Secmair, part of the Fayat Group, has launched its Multispray spraybar to ensure the speed rate and application of binders and additives are perfect. This spraybar combines two rows of jets that can allow two spread rates across the width of the roadway, meaning the carriageway and hard shoulder can be coated with different mixes. This can eliminate or prevent the phenomenon of bleeding. One row can be

It has been just over three months since the first Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit in Paris -- PPRS Paris 2015 -- and now the focus will shift to a similarly exciting forum in North America. Under the banner of the cooperative Pavement Preservation Recycling Alliance (PPRA), all specialists in the sector are invited to the beautiful Canadian city of Niagara Falls to share experiences on how to protect, maintain and rehabilitate road assets in the most cost effective manner while embracing recy

Mike Harper, business development director at highway maintenance materials specialist Stirling Lloyd, has been appointed chairman of the UK Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA) in the UK. Harper brings 15 years’ experience with Stirling Lloyd to the role of raising awareness of new techniques and technologies for highways maintenance to the RSTA’s 84 member companies. He will work closely with key industry stakeholders and major client groups in the UK, such as Highways England, the Highways Te

The Australian Asphalt Pavement Association (AAPA) has endorsed the new concept of a fatigue endurance limit to determine the full depth asphalt pavement thickness in a freeway environment. The endorsement came from the first meeting of the AAPA’s recently appointed National Leadership and Technology Committee (NTLC) made up of senior managers in the pavement and surface technology sector. The NTLC endorsed the industry-prepared draft design guide addendum for Perpetual Pavements from AUSTROADS. AUSTR

A life-cycle assessment has found that an asphalt mix containing a high percentage of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) along with an additive by Arizona Chemical can produce a significantly lower carbon footprint than virgin asphalt mix or a mix containing a low percentage of RAP. The assessment study was carried out by third party Arthur D. Little, an international management consulting firm, using Arizona Chemical’s SYLVAROAD RP 1000 performance additive. The work noted that cradle-to-gate, a road aspha

Marco Cecala, president of Take-off Professionals, based in the state of Arizona, will show attendees to this year’s HxGN Live in Las Vegas how to make a project run like clockwork using Computer Aided Design – CAD – and data in field. Take-off Professionals has been preparing 3D models for clients for more than 15 years, riding the wave of modelling since its inception. Hexagon’s HxGN Live international users’ conference, from June 1-4, will be an event not to miss if 3D machine control is an essenti

They may not be pushing the actual dirt around a construction site, but wireless comms for machine control need to be just as rugged and robust in their own right. Attendees to HxGN Live in Las Vegas next month will also hear real-life examples of how to get the best out of Leica’s 3D machine control products iCON Site and iCON Grade for dozers and graders in a presentation by Jana Wegner, chief executive of Texas-based J.A.L. Contracting. J.A.L. is one of the state’s fastest growing and most sought afte

Complete implementation of 3D machine control systems ensured that K A Aurstad became one of Norway’s fastest growing and in-demand contractors because of effective production improvement in both quality and accuracy. Combine this with web-based project hubs and machines can then start work on the correct project only minutes after the latest design leaves the drawing board. The use of machine control is important for K A Aurstad, based in Sunnmøre and whose 140 or more employees work in heavy constru

The Australian Government is only allocating central funding to urban road projects in its Budget 2015. Major projects that will receive federal funding are the WestConnex motorways, urban roads around Badgerys Creek and the widening of the Pacific Highway. The Federal Government will provide US$1.2 billion (A$1.5 billion) in grant funding as well as an additional $1.6 billion (A$2 billion) loan for the WestConnex project. Meanwhile the NorthConnex project under the Pennant Hills Road in Sydney will receive

Chinese firm Zoomlion has won a significant order for Saudi Arabia in the shape of a new 174RSU concrete pump. The machine is being supplied to a local equipment dealer through Zoomlion’s Concrete Machinery Branch Company’s overseas marketing company in Saudi Arabia. This is the first time Zoomlion has exported a concrete pump product to the Saudi Arabian market and it is expected to open up a route for the firm to sell more of the units to the country. The deal is of note as historically there has

Philippines-based Metro Pacific Tollways is mulling offers to invest US$600 million in a project in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. Metro Pacific Tollways president Ramoncito Fernandez said that the investment would be made through the company’s CII Bridges and Roads Investment Joint Stock Co. (CII B&R). “We are being offered new projects in Vietnam. We are now are evaluating a new project that will connect Ho Chi Minh to outskirts,” said Fernandez, without naming the project. Early this year, Metro Pacific