News

PEACOCK SALT has secured a long-term agreement with Rio Tinto's Australian subsidiary Dampier Salt (DSL) to supply solar salt for the UK market.The agreement with the world’s largest salt exporter will see Ayr, Scotland-based Peacock importing in the region of 500,000tonnes of salt/year. Peacock says it currently controls 15% of the UK’s road salt market, supplying to a range of public and private sector clients. Director Angus Craig said the deal with Australia and UK-based Rio Tinto will secure the compan

The UK’s new government is investigating its transportation options with regards to raising capital to help offset its budget deficit. One of the plans being put forward is the potential sale of trunk roads and highways to the private sector. Under the proposed scheme drivers would be able to use existing roads without tolls. However, the private sector owners would then charge the UK government a sum based on traffic volumes over a given period.

Clearview Traffic has been recognised in the Best Green Companies Awards for its ecological approach and work towards helping local authorities meet their environmental targets. The award, presented by the Sunday Times, sets out to identify and celebrate the achievements of the top 60 British businesses that are striving to improve environmental performance. According to the group, the accolade is in recognition of the work undertaken by Clearview Traffic in improving both its own environmental standards an

THE NEW highway network currently being built in the Czech Republic will be completed in 2025, five years later than the original planned completion date of 2020. The country’s Transport Ministry has said that €19.55 billion will be needed to extend the total length of the network from the current 1,113km to 2,153km. However,it has pointed out that a new system of funding will be required or there will be a shortfall to pay for the plans by 2020.Various options are being considered at present with bond issu

M&T Expo 2012, the 8th International Exhibition of Construction Equipment and 6th International Exhibition of Mining Equipment, has opened in São Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city. It is the largest trade show for the construction and mining industries in Latin America. According to M&T Expo promoter Sobrameta (the Brazilian Association of Technology for Equipment and Maintenance) the prevailing tone at the opening ceremony was one of optimism among the leaders in the two segments of industry. Sobratema is expe

Topcon Europe Positioning says that Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS, Livermore, California, USA) has acquired InlandGEO, one of Topcon’s top performing distributors. InlandGEO is headquartered in Madrid, Spain, and has four additional offices in Spain, two in Portugal and one in the Canary Islands. In addition to continuing to distribute Topcon and Sokkia positioning products to the construction and survey markets in Spain and Portugal, InlandGEO will become the headquarters for distribution and support fo

ORGANSIERS OF SMOPYC 2011 say they have reached agreements with groups of buyers and trade missions from “strategic countries” that will make the event “a key gate to the markets of North Africa, the Mediterranean arc, South America and Asia.” The 15th international show of public works, construction and mining machinery (www.smopyc.es) is being held in Zaragoza, Spain, from 5-9 April, 2011. Feria de Zaragoza, the organisers, said that this edition of SMOPYC shows its ongoing commitment to the sector’s nee

A LEGAL dispute is now underway in Russia over the St Petersburg ring road project. Construction company Flora was awarded a €187.6 million contract for an 11km section of the ring road in 2008, winning the tender by making the lowest bid. However, the Russian authorities have taken the contract for this section of the ring road away from Flora claiming it did not meet set targets. Flora is disputing the loss of the contract with the authorities.

A STUDY of highway construction costs in eight European countries highlights Austria as the most expensive. The report says that highways in Austria cost €12.87 million/km. The next most expensive country is Hungary at €11.21 million/km, followed by Slovakia at €9.56 million/km and then the Czech Republic at €8.86 million/km.

Cooper Technology, among the leaders in the design and manufacture of computercontrolled testing equipment for asphaltic and unbound materials, has unveiled its next generation of intelligent technology. New developments to the pioneering company's standalone four-point bending beam (BB) machine SA4PT Control Unit MKII that facilitates the rapid throughput of modulus and fatigue tests, now integrates the fully automated software of the Beam Flex V3 1.0.

Kenya's highway network is to benefit from a tie-up with the Iranian Government. The new Rumuruti-Maralal road will be built using funding sourced by the Iranian Government. The 121km road is expected to cost some US$100 million.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is providing funding worth US$1.14 billion for construction work on the north section of Sao Paulo's orbital highway. The Brazilian city is at the heart of the country's growing economy and traffic congestion has been a problem in the area. The work will commence in 2011 and is due for completion in 2014. The local authorities will need to find a further $1.82 billion however.

The Indian Government has granted approvals for 32 highway construction projects during the 2009-2010 financial year. These routes have a total length of 3,600km but this falls below the targeted 126 projects stretching for a total of 11,928km in total for this time period. For the 2010-2011 financial year, the plan is to build highways totalling in excess of 15,000km.

Work is being planned on Melbourne's M80 ring road upgrade. This A$2.25 billion project is intended to cut congestion at peak periods, boost safety and reduce journey times for commuters and freight traffic. The project is due for completion in 2013 with some of the work already underway. The work includes an extra lane being installed on either side of the road between Sunshine Avenue and Furlong Road as well as widening of the freeway bridge over Furlong Road.