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The excavator remains the key earthmoving tool, Mike Woof reports. The versatile hydraulic excavator has been at the heart of most earthmoving projects around the world for many years, a dominance that looks set to remain. Because of the importance to the construction sector of the excavator, manufacturers are keen to upgrade and improve their competing machines on an almost continuous basis. New technology proliferates in hydraulic excavators while firms are also focussing on increasing the range of tasks

Caterpillar's UK dealer Finning UK has completed the first Cat Certified Hydraulic Rebuild (CHR) in Europe. mWhile rebuild of a machine or a powertrain is an option that many Cat dealers worldwide have been offering for years under the Cat Certified Rebuild (CCR) and the Cat Certified Powertrain (CPT) programmes, following the same idea of rebuild, Finning carried out a hydraulic system overhaul for customer Westminster Dredging.

Canada's Henri IV road will be widened and upgraded in a project worth US$413.6 million ($400 million).

Hitachi's new wheeled excavator offers the latest engine and advanced hydraulics. The short-tail ZX145W-3 suits applications in confined urban areas as well as on highway projects. The machine has been developed especially for European customers and features an integrated transmission and a reinforced structure.

One of the most important priorities of the Government of Georgia is the construction and rehabilitation of the East-West Highway in accordance with international standards.

Volvo Construction Equipment Division, Volvo Group UK has been awarded full accreditation as a skills training provider by The National Skills Academy for its paver applications training course. As part of a European initiative by the company to launch a Road Institute training programme focussing on providing contractors and industry bodies with quality training for their paving personnel, the Volvo dealership in the UK has achieved accreditation with The National Skills Academy for Materials, Production a

Canadian firm Carmanah Technologies reports strong demand for its sophisticated solar LED flashing beacons. The units have been used to improve safety for school zones in a Canadian city.

SBG has set numerous engineering precedents with its hugely innovative Jamarat Bridge project in Saudi Arabia

Ennis Prismo is introducing a new pothole reinstatement product called Repair and a novel temporary line marking system. The pothole product is said to be quick, easy and safe to use, as well as being inexpensive to purchase. This product requires little training to use and is said to be ready to carry traffic soon after installation. It is also said to provide a long-lasting repair even on roads with high traffic volumes. Meanwhile the temporary line marking system is said to offer high retroreflectivity e

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has received the US Department of Commerce's Certificate of Appreciation for Achievement in Trade.

In an interesting development Wacker Neuson is now promoting sales of used equipment. The firm recently held an equipment auction, with a wide range of units being sold including internal vibrators, pumps, rammers, plates and compact equipment weighing up to 15tonnes.

A staggering US$21 billion is being invested in Shenzhen city in China on road projects during the 2011-2015 period.

A UK vehicle tracking specialist has developed a novel solution for raising invoices quickly and efficiently. AutoAlert is said to offer a compact, easy solution for keeping track of work and monitoring progress. Using the system, customers can automatically raise invoices and also have sub-contractors automatically raise their invoices. The package allows the addition of clients and sub-contractors to accounts and can monitor the status of ongoing jobs and locations. Using the system is said to make job re

Turkish haulage operator ÇABA has been transporting huge armine absorber units at regular intervals from the Caspian Sea port of Turkmenbashi across the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan to a flue gas desulphurisation plant in the town of Eloten.

BASF is boosting output at its Norwegian plant at Granerud in Nord-Odal. The €e1 million investment at the BASF Construction Chemicals facility will help develop production capacity for its MEYCO chemicals and MEYCO equipment lines, which are sold into the tunnel construction sector.

IBTTA president Frank McCartney has urged US Congress to remove the barriers to tolling and expand the TIFIA program.

UK firm Instarmac is aiming to expand its customer base for its innovative pothole patching systems. The firm now offers a broad range of repair products to suit asphalt and concrete road surfaces.

An innovative new product, SD605, is said to help boost safety by cutting dust levels during manufacturing of pre-cast concrete products. The US-developed product can also be used for dust control in construction, roadway, haul road, erosion and soil stabilisation applications.

New Holland has launched the first two models in its new C Series range of crawler excavators.

Chinese firm Foshan is offering a novel new electromagnetic induction lamp system. This combines electronic, magnetic and light source technology. It does not have a filament and the electrode uses electromagnetic induction technology to generate an electromagnetic circuit in the lamp. By not using a traditional filament or electrodes, this avoids wear and is said to offer a long life-span.