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A large milling machine from Wirtgen has been used to remove the top two asphalt layers of a key route in Japan in the city of Mito, around 140km north-east of Tokyo

Advances in driveline systems from existing players as well as new corporate partnerships are also being seen in the off-highway equipment sector to deliver innovative transmission solutions.

Technology advances for engine and driveline systems continue - Mike Woof writes With the Stage V emissions requirements being introduced in Europe, a number of engine manufacturers have already announced their plans. Leading engine makers such as Cummins, Deutz, John Deere, Perkins and Volvo Penta have all released information regarding the engines that they will be offering. The new standard introduces the particulate particle count (PN) and applies to all diesel engines above 19kW for off-road applic

A Chinese road builder is planning to add recycling capabilities to its existing asphalt-mixing plants to meet new environmental guidelines. Another benefit of this approach is that the firm will also be able to substantially reduce its costs CSCEC Road & Bridge is a highly successful business in China and utilises Ammann Uniglobe Asphalt-Mixing Plants for its operations. The firm says that the results have been impressive and during one key road expansion project, one of its Uniglobe plants produced 700

Automated road repairs, using 3D printing, could save money and vastly reduce disruption, and researchers are already showing it’s possible - Kristina Smith reports It’s the middle of the night, and in the street below a team is busy carrying out repairs to the road surface. But there isn’t a human in sight. A road repair drone has landed at the site of a crack and a 3D asphalt printer is now busy filling in that crack. A group of traffic cone drones have positioned themselves around the repair location

Work is underway in Sweden on a new tunnel, which will connect Hjulstra and Akalla. Demolition of existing structures is being carried to prepare for the tunnel, which is located in the north of capital Stockholm. The tunnel itself is expected to be complete during 2021.

Work is expected to start soon on Bosnia’s Hranjen Tunnel, part of the future Goražde-to-Sarajevo highway. Gorazde Emir Okovic, head of the Podrinje Canton, told Bosnian media despite recent poor weather construction of the road is proceeding. Cost of the six-kilometre double-tube tunnel will be around €92 million with phase one amounting to nearly €36 million. The tunnel will cut the journey between the two towns from 95km to 56km and the time from 90 minutes to 45 minutes.

Croatia is to pay €70 million as its share for a bridge across the River Sava near Gradiska, in Republika Srpska, part of Bosnia-Herzegovina. A year ago, the European Commission set aside a €6.8 million grant for construction of the bridge.

Measures to improve vehicle safety are being planned for Europe. A new report on vehicle safety has now been adopted by the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). The report has been advocated by FIA Region I and sets an ambitious approach to road safety. The report sets out plans on introducing improvements for both active and passive in-vehicle safety. These proven safety technologies should be introduced as standard for all vehicles, according to the report. T

Measures to improve vehicle safety are being planned for Europe. A new report on vehicle safety has now been adopted by the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). The report has been advocated by FIA Region I and sets an ambitious approach to road safety. The report sets out plans on introducing improvements for both active and passive in-vehicle safety. These proven safety technologies should be introduced as standard for all vehicles, according to the report. T

Retail sales of construction and earthmoving equipment in the UK market grew by 2% in 2018, despite a drop in the last quarter. Prior to the 8% reduction in sales in Q4 (compared with Q4 2017), the trend over the previous two years had been to show steady, but slowing growth each quarter (see graph). Retail sales in the UK market reached nearly 31,000 units, according to the Construction

Slovakia is on track with its transport infrastructure development programme, following a substantial budget set during 2018. Contracts worth a total of €1.5 billion were drawn up in 2018 for an array of transport projects. These include building new highway sections and upgrading existing sections of road or new bridges, as well as developing the country’s rail network. However, some of the funding available remains unspent. EU subsidies had been set to help pay for Slovakia’s transport improvements but b

Morocco is planning a road maintenance programme aimed at tackling excessive wear and tear to the country’s network.

Work is on track for the building of a key toll road project in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan. The 99.35km toll road runs between Samarinda and Balikpapan and will cut the travel time between the two from three hours to just one hour. The project is costing US$653.2 million to carry out. Work is almost complete for the stretches from Muara Jawa to Palaran and from Samboja to Muara Jawa sections. The section from Balikpapan to Samboja should be ready by April 2019 and the stretch from Samarinda to Palaran shou

The Hisgaura Bridge in Colombia remains a source of concern over its structure. The 653m bridge forms part of the Málaga—Los Curos highway and features the longest central span, at 400m, of any cable-stayed bridge in South America. However, Colombia's National Road Institute (Invias) has expressed its doubts over the bridge. Instability and potential high maintenance costs have been cited by Invias as grounds for this concern. The deck of the central section of the bridge is not properly level. It is not c

A 15km stretch of Interstate 64 in the US state of Virginia will be upgraded, allowing it to handle more traffic.

Vietnam is planning 11 expressway projects. The Vietnamese Government has set aside US$239 million for the work, with three projects due to commence during 2019. Further financing will be required to pay for the projects and is being provided by various banks. The three projects starting in 2019 are the Cam Lo to La Son expressway costing $342 million, the Cao Bo to Mai Son expressway costing $215 million and the My Thuan 2 bridge, also costing $215 million. Work on the remaining eight projects will commenc

Improvements and upgrades will be carried out key routes in the west of Melbourne. The Australian city will benefit from US$1.27 billion (A$1.8 billion) of work, which includes boosting capacity on eight key routes. The road sections that will be upgraded include the Duncans Road interchange, the Forsyth Road interchange, Dohertys Road, Palmers Road, Derrimut Road and Dunnings Road. Bridge improvements will allow heavier trucks to use certain routes, including Geelong Road, Hyde Street and Ballarat Road. T

Interest is strong in the contract to build a new stretch of expressway in the north of Poland. Nine bids have been made for the project to built a 17km stretch of the S16 expressway, which lies close to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. This section will connect Borki Wielke and Mragowo and the work also includes construction a bypass around the latter. The bids range in value from €164.4 million up to €234 million. Work is expected to commence in 2020 and take until 2023 to complete.

Terex Cranes reports strong financial performance, with fourth quarter 2018 net sales of $1.2 billion. This performance is an increase of 16% compared with the $1.1 billion achieved for the fourth quarter of 2017. For the full year 2018, Terex reported net sales of $5.1 billion, an increase of 18% over the $4.4 billion achieved for 2017. Meanwhile Terex has also announced it plans to to sell its Demag Mobile Cranes business to the Japanese firm Tadano. In addition, Terex Cranes will exit the mobile crane