Products

SDLG unveiled the LG6210E excavator, the LGB677 backhoe loader, and the LG953N energy-saving wheeled loader during the recent CTT show in Moscow. The launch of the three key new machine models was said to mark the start of a push to expand the Chinese company’s reach in the Russian market. “For the past three years, SDLG has sold more wheeled loaders in Russia than any other Chinese manufacturer and we have 29% of the market for China-built products in the country” said Yu Mengsheng, deputy CEO of SDL

Volvo Construction Equipment is working in some of the world’s most treacherous terrain to construct a high-speed road link across the Andes Mountains. A fleet of 60 Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) road-building machines is being used to construct a 140km highway across the Andes Mountains, from Bucaramanga, Colombia’s eighth largest city, to Cucuta on the border – providing the country with a much-needed high-speed link with Venezuela. Tasked with this huge undertaking is innovative Colombian hi

At a time when road safety is posing a significant threat to both human health and economic development around the world, it is worth noting that in many developed nations the situation is improving. The United Nations has identified road safety as a major problem and established its Decade of Action for Road Safety for the 2010-2020 period, in a bid to cut the growing death toll. But while developing nations are seeing a vast growth in vehicle numbers and road fatalities, the improving road safety situ

A woman managed to crash her car into the front window of an opticians’ shop in an English town. Both staff and customers had a very unwelcome surprise as the woman’s vehicle burst through the front of the shop. Fortunately no-one was hurt in the incident. Police refused to comment on the incident, while the driver has been keeping a low profile since the incident. It is not known if she was wearing glasses at the time of the crash, or if she has since started.

Thousands of cyclists all over the world took part in the recent World Naked Bike ride. This event is intended to promote the rights of cyclists to use the road network, as well as highlight safety issues. The event was held at 152 locations in the northern hemisphere while cyclists in the southern hemisphere in cities such as Mexico City also participated.

In the UK, double yellow lines painted close at the kerbside denote an area where parking is not allowed. But in the city of Cambridge the authorities have decided to paint double yellow lines just 307mm long in between two parking bays. The space is barely large enough to park a radio-controlled car or to slot in a bicycle, let alone a motor vehicle, but the city’s authorities have nevertheless decided that it is important to denote the area is not to be used. Quite why it was felt necessary to take the ti

A dispute between neighbours took a rather different turn in Washington State in the US. Frustrated following an argument, one man climbed into his bulldozers and used it to wreck four houses belonging to his neighbours. The incident also damaged power lines and disrupted electricity supplies to thousands of others in the area. Luckily no-one was hurt in the incident and the bulldozer driver was subsequently arrested by police.

The Irish Road Safety Authority is at present weighing up the need for dog seatbelts. Evidence is being gathered as to whether dog seatbelts are necessary, although for the moment there will be no legal requirement for canine passengers to be properly secured in vehicles. Concern has been raised as to the risks posed by dogs flying through the air following a crash, as well as to the risk of harm to the animals themselves. No statistics have as yet been revealed by the Irish Road Safety Authority as to the

Taxi passengers in Shanghai will be pleased to hear that the Chinese authorities have ruled a number of the TV screens fitted to the back of seats inside the vehicles to be unsafe in accidents. Some of the screens did pass safety tests sadly. But many of the taxi firms are now following a government requirement to remove failed screens from the vehicles. This means taxi passengers stuck in the city’s frequent traffic jams will no longer have to endure listening to the same adverts playing over, and over, an

A parent in India has been charged by police following an incident in which a nine year old child was allowed to drive a car. The affluent parent allowed his son to drive his Ferrari in the Southern state of Kerala, while the boy’s seven year old brother sat alongside him. The man’s wife made a video of the boy’s prowess behind the wheel of the performance car and this was then posted online. The police were rather less than impressed however and charged the vehicle owner with endangering the life of the ch

A classic Lamborghini Miura SV sports car recently caught fire in London, while it was being driven. The owner managed to escape unharmed but by the time emergency services were able to attend the fire, the car had been completely burned out. As this extremely rare car is worth around £1 million, the insurance company is not likely to be happy about having to make a payout. The reason for the fire is unknown but the electrics of this 1971 model were never a strongpoint. Aerodynamically the Miura is also rep

RMD Kwikform has supplied the Abigroup with a full range of formwork, shoring and edge protection equipment for all 25 bridges on the Kurri Kurri to Branxton section of the Hunter Expressway in New South Wales (NSW) Australia.

German firm PASS+CO has developed a novel product that can be used as a transition between steel and concrete barriers. Called the FLEXTRA SR-C, this product meets the European H2 rating under the EN1317 and connects the firm’s own SUPER-RAIL H4b double barrier with concrete structures. This can be installed in an array of applications, such as at the entrance to tunnels or tolling areas, where there is a need for a transition from one type of barrier to another.