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A number of cyclists racing in Europe had a rather surprising entrant in their midst recently. As the riders pedalled hard along one stretch of road, they were temporarily joined by an army tank driving alongside at the same speed. The cyclists turned a corner and the tank meanwhile carried straight on. No doubt the cyclists were pleased to see the back of the large, heavily armed and armoured metal beast as it disappeared into a forest in a cloud of dust. Meanwhile in the UK city of Norwich, the Tour of Br

A British man left his high-value, high-performance Mercedes with a valet parking firm at a UK airport. On his return he was dismayed to discover the car had clocked 1,300km or so in his absence, despite the firm’s facility being just 6.5km from the airport. Police tracked the car having been driven through four English counties. However the firm said it was unable to determine which of 15 employees had taken the car. Meanwhile another British man managed to forget where he had parked his VW. He had att

In Australia a man was arrested after he stole a Caterpillar bulldozer from a plant yard and then drove it into three cars and a house. Luckily no one was injured in the incident, although it appears that the man was intent on harming the woman owner of the property and her two daughters who were sleeping in the property at the time. He had initially driven the bulldozer over three cars parked nearby to the house, with horrified neighbours then calling the police. Before officers could reach the scene, the

A valuable Pagani Zonda supercar has been crashed for the second time in the UK. The car was being driven back from its annual MOT test by the bodyguard of the current owner. However the driver lost control of the high-performance vehicle and crashed it into a fence. In court the driver explained that he had been shifting his seat for better comfort, when his foot slipped onto the accelerator pedal. However this account differed from his original statement to the police in which he claimed he had swerved to

engcon is continuing to expand in Europe and has set up their first office in the Netherlands. The maker of tiltrotators is starting up its own sales company, engcon NL, that will employ a sales manager, a salesperson and another person focusing on servicing and after-sales. The office will be operating by the end of the first quarter this year. "This launch will be an important milestone for engcon and will be the object of considerable focus in future," said Krister Blomgren, chief executive of engcon's p

Hiab, part of Cargotec, has launched the VSL PLUS stability feature for its heavy crane range. Variable Stability Limit PLUS (VSL PLUS) is a safety system that automatically regulates crane capacity in relation to the actual stability of the vehicle while it is working. The system senses the position of each stabiliser leg and whether there is a load on the truck. It is designed to protect the crane operator, people nearby and the crane and vehicle outfit. It takes the total weight of the truck into a

Gallagher Aggregates’ Hermitage Quarry, near Maidstone in south-east England, has purchased two MDS trommels from recently appointed distributor Blue Machinery London. The 155tonne M820, is one of the world’s largest tracked mobile trommels. It is joined on site by the smaller 50tonne M515. Both models are fully mobile on crawler undercarriage and feature hydraulic folding stockpiling conveyors for quick set-up once in position. The M515 is producing fines (-120mm), which fall through the initial holes i

Gröfuþjónusta Steins, a contractor in southern Iceland, has taken delivery of a CASE 695ST backhoe loader from newly appointed sub-dealer Vélaborg Vörumeðhöndlu. Gröfuþjónusta Steins, based in Selfoss, a town on the banks of the Ölfusá river, is involved in a range of projects, including highway construction projects and the installation of fibre optic cables, telecommunications wiring and utility pipes for heating and water. It also provides specific services including snow clearing services. The company,

A reinforced concrete bridge over the Autobahn 8 between Merklingen and Nellingen in southern Germany was demolished overnight due in no small part to the efficient, reliable performance of Atlas Copco hydraulic attachments. In addition to demolition grippers, breakers and pulverisers, the demolition team used the HM 2000 hydraulic magnet to demolish structures and sort demolition waste. There is now nothing to stop the widening of the A8 to six lanes or construction of the parallel high-speed Wendlingen

Kubota says it is offering a range of engines that can run on various alternative fuels. These can be used instead of diesel fuel engines. As an alternative to diesel, the machinery manufacturer has the choice between power units with similar dimensions (footprint) fuelled by petrol (gasoline), natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or compressed natural gas (CNG). These alternative fuel type engines are likely to be cheaper to buy and run than future diesel engines.

Norwegian producer of high-quality aggregates Hamar Pukk og Grus has invested in a new ZW310-5 for loading trucks and trailers at its 60-hectare quarry on the outskirts of the town of Hamar. The wheeled loader is the first Hitachi machine in the company’s fleet and was delivered in April 2015 by the Norwegian dealer Nasta. It has joined a team of six personnel on the site, who are responsible for excavating 120,000m³ of materials and producing 250,000 tonnes of aggregates a year. Material is loaded in

A key advance has been made in reducing noise along the busy M40 motorway in the UK. The work forms part of a design contract worth up to €2.62 million (£2 million). WSP Parsons Brinkerhoff is reviewing sites along the M40 between junction 3 (Loudwater) and junction 8 (Wheatley), where road noise is a particular issue. Earlier this year, Highways England, working in partnership with the M40 Chiltern Environmental Group, (M40 CEG) Wycombe District Council and South Oxfordshire District Council, ran a

Kubota is offering new diesel power pack options in the power class up to 55kW. These have been designed for customers and to meet current and proposed future regulations. The technology uses common rail technology and state-of-the-art exhaust gas treatment.