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Moba has revised and improved the sensor technology on the company’s PAVE-TM paving thickness measuring system. The technology has meant that PAVE-TM system - for non-contact layer thickness measurement - is now competing in the finals against two other innovations in the bauma Innovation Awards category “Components, Digital Systems”. Moba says that PAVE-TM is the world‘s only system for automatic layer thickness measurement in road construction. The system constantly displays the thickness of the pa

Construction materials group Boral and truck manufacturer Iveco have launched an aggregate surfacing truck in Australia. The Boral FMAS - Forward Moving Aggregate Spreader – will make the method of spray seal road construction in Australia much easier, according to the two companies. Until now, the process involved road crews working with reversing trucks that applied the aggregate through an elevated tipper body, increasing the safety risks to workers. To improve safety and maximise visibility, th

Caterpillar’s revamped small cold planers have upped the stakes in the urban refurbishing market. World Highways deputy editor David Arminas recently caught up with A.J. Lee, global segment manager, on Spain’s Costa del Sol

LeeBoy is seeing strong sales for its road machines at the moment, particularly in the US. And the firm’s early investment in fitting Tier 4 Final compliant engines has played a significant role Christopher Barnard is CEO of LeeBoy and commented, “The US has been strong. Demand is there and the infrastructure spending is there. It’s a good market. In our segment for commercial paving we’re doing very well.” The paver range is selling well and the firm’s 8520 model is a particularly strong seller. Barnard

Nearly a decade on from when Singapore’s Formula 1 (F1) track was first laid, Shell Bitumen’s high-performance binder, Shell Cariphalte, has been selected once more for resurfacing works. The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) sets stringent standards for the performance of its tracks, which are made even more challenging given Singapore’s climate. The road surface must remain constant, despite temperatures of up to 30oC and humidity levels above 70%. The 5km Marina Bay Street Circuit, which

A Chinese contractor has opted to use RAP in delivering quality roadways at lower cost. The firm utilised an ABA UniBatch asphalt plant from Ammann to achieve this. The Chinese authorities are at present keen to increase the use of RAP in road building, in a bid to reduce the environmental impact of construction projects. However for this to be carried out, the high RAP-content mix must meet high quality standards. Shandong Binzhou Road Construction Corp (SBRCC) has carried out a number of high-profil

A Simex PL 5020 self-levelling planer recently proved its worth in the historical centre of Ortisei, northeastern Italy. The peaceful and tidy town of under 5,000 people is nestled within the beautiful South Tyrol Mountains.

Rubber modified bitumen is gaining ground, according to speciality chemicals business Evonik The intensified search for better road durability and lower traffic noise - both environmental concerns - has meant an increasing market for rubber-modified bitumen. At the same time, raw material costs for asphalt and specifically for asphalt modification compounds have increased considerably, creating another obstacle to cost-effective road construction. The stakes are high for getting roads more durable

The A7 is being widened between Hamburg and Bordesholm from four lanes to six - in some places to eight - to ensure the motorway remains an efficient traffic artery. The aim is to create a pavement with a high degree of driving comfort but which withstands the loads of heavy-goods traffic. For widening the 60km stretch in the Schleswig-Holstein region, consortium Via Solutions Nord and joint venture ARGE A7 Hamburg-Bordesholm opted for steel reinforced concrete paving with an exposed aggregate concrete s

Aggregate Industries’ contracting division recently laid a total of 1,800 tonnes of an ultra-low noise asphalt at Brampton Hut Services in Huntingdon in one weekend. Section 1 of Highways England’s A14 Cambridge-to-Huntingdon Improvement Scheme will see 21km of the road upgraded to three lanes in each direction and is expected to cut journey times by up to 20 minutes. The pavement works at Brampton Hut motorway services specified minimum sound level requirements of -7.5db (A). The limits are designed

Construction of the 77km-long Merdare-Nis highway in Serbia is to benefit from external financing. A funding package worth €100 million is being supplied by the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the project. The funding will pay for work on a stretch of the route between Plocnik and Nis in southern Serbia. The highway will improve transport connections with neighbouring Kosovo when it is complete. This project forms part of a series of road building operations in the region, with extensive work having been

Morocco is working on a new highway development programme. This calls for the building of 1,384km of highway routes, in addition to the existing road links. In all the work is expected to cost in excess of US$7.9 billion. The work includes building 10 key stretches of highway. Some of the key routes to be upgraded will be: Beni Mellal and Marrakech; Tangier and Tetouan; Rabat to Casablanca and Berrechid; Berrechid and El Jadida; Fez to Tangier.

Construction work has been restarted on the 178km Isebania to Ahero road, connecting Kenya with Tanzania.

Repairs to the A20 highway route in northern Germany are now likely to take longer than initially expected. The route will now take until 2023 to repair, with the work costing some €100 million to carry out and requiring a temporary bridge to carry traffic past the failed section. The temporary bridge accounts for more than half of the cost of the work. The geological problems with the A20 Autobahn route first became visible in September 2018 when a section near Tribsees started to suffer from subsidence.

Statens Vegvesen, the Norwegian Road Administration, has cancelled tender plans for a new Sotra fixed link project that were scheduled for the spring. Jon Georg Dale, minister of transport, recently told the Norwegian Parliament that the geology near Lake Storavatnet along the route of the project, of which the second bridge would be a part, has caused concern among planners. Also, reconstruction of a high-voltage power cable has come under questions. Helge Eidsnes, a regional manager of Statens Vegve

Construction work has commenced on a new coast road project in Vietnam’s Thai Binh Province. The road will provide an important connection, improving transport between the ports at Hai Phong, Quang Ninh and Diem Dien and the Cat Bi International Airport. It will also connect to the Ninh Binh-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh expressway and improve links between the Thai Binh economic zone, industrial clusters in Thai Thuy and Thien Hai districts. The project is being carried out under the build-operate-transfer model an

Construction work is underway on the new bridge spanning the Bago River in Myanmar. Much of the funding for the 1,928m bridge is being provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in the form of a loan worth US$272.6 million. It is expected to cost $289 million in all to build, with completion expected in 2023. The bridge connects Thanlyin with Yangon’s Thaketa Township area and is being built just 125m from the existing bridge over the Bago River. This new cable-stayed structure will help

Construction work is commencing for 10 major transport infrastructure projects in China’s Shenzhen Province. The most impressive of these projects will be the building of the 8km undersea road tunnel,. Costing US$1.54 billion, the Mawan Cross-Sea Passage represents a major engineering challenge and is expected to take three years to complete. The projects being carried out also include the upgrade of Yueliangwan Boulevard (which includes a new viaduct), improvements to the Meiguan Expressway and building an

Construction work on the important Loko-Oweto Bridge project in Nigeria should be complete in May 2019. The project has cost around US$141 million, with contractor Reynolds Construction Company having started work on the 1.8km structure in 2011. Spanning the River Benue, the bridge forms part of the 108km road link connecting Otukpo with Oweto and improves transport connections between Benue State and Nasarawa State. Work on a stretch of the road has been carried CGC Nigeria Limited. Upgrade work is also

Four EC210D units from Volvo Construction Equipment are delivering much needed protection to Filipino villagers living near the Mayon volcano. The heavy-duty machines are building spillways to direct lava, debris and rain away from populated areas, while simultaneously preserving valuable aggregate resources. The Mayon volcano near the city of Legazpi is one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines. While volcano soil is extremely fertile for farming, lava flows are always a hazard. In addition,