Products

The Toyota Prius has a reputation as a car favoured by tree-hugging Hollywood stars, but a former colleague of the World Highways editor has proven that despite its reputation for economy, the Toyota Prius can serve as a racetrack tool. The driver has con rmed that his vehicle was o cially the ninth fastest of its type around the famous Nordschleife (Nürburgring) race track in Germany, beating 27 other similar models at the time of its run. The unmodi ed Prius T4 managed to complete the 20.8km section of t

A Norwegian sand producer has improved material quality since it began using a new washing plant from CDE. Reddal Sand's new plant has resulted in a significant improvement in the quality of the product from its site in the South of Norway. Reddal Sand is located in Grimstad, Aust-Agder and has supplied a variety of construction materials to major projects in the area since 1989, including materials for use in concrete, road construction and various types of groundworks.

Sennebogen's 6130 HD duty cycle crawler crane has received praise for its mining work in central Germany. The machine, which comes with drag shovel and a 5.6m³ dragline, has been extracting 2,500m³ of gravel/day. The crawler crane's 29.9m boom is used to pour material over a large heap before it is sieved after a short drying period and transported on with a HGV. The Sennebogen 6130 is being used by construction company Himmel und Papesch on behalf of K+B Kies und Beton. Himmel und Papesch says the machine

Five Potain cranes were used to build pylons for the Viaduto do Corgo project in Portugal. The recently completed 2.8km viaduct is one of the longest and tallest in the country. The machines were supplied by Manitowoc's Portugal office on a rental contract, who managed the cranes throughout the project. In addition to installing the cranes, the local Manitowoc Crane Care team also climbed and relocated the cranes as work progressed. Each crane worked with a 45m jib and constructed four pylons at a time. In

Navman Wireless says its Qtanium 300 is the world's first universal construction fleet tracking system that makes it possible to monitor usage and associated costs from one application. As part of the company's OnlineAVL2 fleet tracking platform, the system uses GPS technology and sensors attached to fleet vehicles' to display their real-time location on one screen as well as generate in-depth vehicle usage reports for analysis. Engine hours, maintenance status, idling time, equipment utilisation, and usag

Pennsylvania has a new tool to keep its multi-lane highways moving this winter - a 9.14m long, tow behind snowplough. The state's transport department (PennDOT) and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) say the tow plough will allow one truck to do the work of two. Costing between US$99,000- 106,000 each, PennDOT plans to have at least one tow plough in each of its 11 engineering districts by winter 2012.

An example of Wacker Neuson's continuing product development is the new five model range of tracked dumpers with payload capacities spanning 500kg to 2.5tonnes. The three smaller units DT05, DT08 and DT12 are walk-behind/stand-on models with buyers of the smallest two having a choice of either petrol or diesel engines. The bigger DT15 and DT25 are ride-on models and with the heaviest unit the operator's seat can be rotated through 180° so the driver can either look towards or away from the load when moving

The Philippine government's public works department believes its new Italian-sourced under bridge inspection unit will offer "complete safety" during structural investigations. The ABC 110/L from Barin, based in Cittadella, north east Italy, has a 2-Axle Volvo FLL 240 42R Chassis and occupies just one road lane, to enable continued traffic flow. The machine has a bridge barrier clearance of 2.25m, a path clearance of 2m and a horizontal outreach underbridge of 11m. With a vertical depth underbridge of 6.60m

Henan Roady Road Machinery says that its asphalt plants offer innovative design features, including a novel parallel feed system. Feed materials are weighed simultaneously to boost productivity and the plants can also be equipped with an overhead drum so as to use recycled asphalt. The firm reports success in an array of overseas markets including India, Kazakhstan, the Lebanon, Latin America, Mongolia, Nigeria, Russia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, and intends to boost overseas sales.

Methods of ensuring ecological and sustainable drainage in an urban environment are discussed in a new guide being published as part of Hydro International's Engineering Nature's Way initiative. Co-authored by Professor Richard Ashley, of EcoFutures , Sue Illman, of Illman Young Landscape architects, and Alex Stephenson, Stormwater Director of Hydro International and chair of the British Water SuDS focus group, Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in the Urban Landscape looks at Ecosystems Services, Green In

The European Union is making serious moves to tackle road fatalities in a bid to cut Europe's road death rates to 25,000/year by 2010. So far, measures taken have had little effect, bringing the number down by just 18% to 41,000/year.

In Australia local authorities are facing increasing pressure to keep roads properly maintained while cutting costs at the same time. This presents a major problem, however two local authorities have begun using a novel solution to road maintenance and repairs, based around using the latest version of Caterpillar's RM300 rotary mixer.