Products

A German family-owned business has decided to renew its excavator fleet exclusively with Hitachi construction machinery following the purchase of two Zaxis-5 medium excavators. Demolition and earthmoving specialist Althammer’s strategy is now to concentrate on a one-brand policy in conjunction with the Hitachi Support Chain after-sales network provided by official German dealer Kiesel. The Pemfling-based contractor was established by Karl Althammer in 1978 as a transport company. He bought the firm’

Aggregates producer Franzefoss has turned to Metso as it looks to upgrade capacity on its existing Steinskogen quarry site outside of Oslo, Norway. The new crushing and screening installation from Metso, which Franzefoss is looking to help secure healthy commercial growth, includes design, fabrication, installation and commissioning for secondary and tertiary aggregate production. In addition to the fully automated crusher and screening installation to monitor and ease the control of the operation, the n

Thannhauser + Ulbricht Straßen- und Tiefbau (TU) is employing four new Doosan DA30 articulated dump trucks (ADTs) and a new Doosan DX490LC-3 crawler excavator for the earthmoving work during the upgrade of Germany’s B2 federal highway. The machines being used by TU, based in Fremdingen, southern Germany, belong to the rental fleet of Rühle Maschinenpark from Untermünkheim-Haagen.

Work to improve a section of the busy A12 Inntal highway in Austrian Tyrol, Austria, has been carried out by contractor Strabag. The A12 is one of Austria’s busiest highways and carries heavy traffic volumes, particularly in summer when it is an important holiday route through to Southern Europe. The heavy traffic volumes mean that the road has to withstand high stresses. The Brixlegg branch of Strabag carried out a surface renovation contract on the 5.5km stretch between Kundl and Radfield and focussed on

A new generation Vögele SUPER 1303-3i paver has been used to revamp roadways for Germany’s historic Ludwigsburg Palace grounds. The wheeled machine was used to lay coloured asphalt for the entrance area to the palace grounds. The surface quality had to meet tough requirements so as to blend with the historic location. The palace is used for state receptions and cultural events and the extensive grounds are open to the public. A number of pavement rehabilitation measures were recently implemented in the sou

Work is underway on a new bridge structure in Turkey, with tower cranes playing a key role in the project The two Potain tower cranes are being used to build a 610m long cable-stayed bridge in the south-east of the country. The two cranes are MC235B models and are working 10 hours/day on the project, which is taking 30 months. The new bridge will provide an important connection across the Ataturk Dam Reservoir on the Euphrates River.

Indian extraction company SVA Blue Metals is producing millions of tonnes of aggregates/year, using a fleet of Volvo excavators SVA Blue Metals was founded three decades ago by the father of present owner R Ramakrishnan, who handed the business over to his son 15 years ago. The company runs a facility in Karanampettai village close to the bustling industrial city of Coimbatore, around 471km from Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, and has a license to extract from a portion of the site – with a view

Topcon has unveiled its new FC-336 data controller designed specifically for the construction industry. In addition to providing field crews with access to MAGNET Enterprise to send and receive data files, the new controller operates with Topcon MAGNET Field, Site and Layout software, as well as Topcon Pocket 3D. A compact and lightweight handheld controller, the FC-336 works with all Topcon GNSS receivers and total stations.

Auction firm Bonhams recently handled the sale of a low mileage Harley Davidson motorcycle, with just one owner on its logbook. The bike had previously belonged to none other than Pope Francis, having been presented to him as a gift by the manufacturer.

Bungling cattle rustlers in Malaysia only just managed to escape being caught when the vehicle they were using for the theft broke down. The thieves were clever enough to use a blowpipe and tranquiliser darts to make the animals sleepy enough to steal.

British holidaymarkers were lucky to avoid being killed when an elephant unexpectedly attacked their car. The pair were visiting the Kruger National Park in South Africa when their VW Polo car was first rammed and then flipped onto its roof by the enraged male elephant. One of the elephant’s tusks pierced the door of the car, seriously injuring the woman passenger and she was taken to hospital after the attack. She recovered from the injury however and was later able to leave after treatment.