Recycling

The use of recycling and stabilisation equipment has played a key role in adding new lanes to a congested Italian highway. Running from Bologna to Taranto, the A14 Autostrade has seen a major increase in traffic volumes for several years. Data shows that traffic has increased around 4% year on year with some 110,000 vehicles using the highway/day. The traffic growth trend looks set to continue and this resulted in the Italian Government opting to upgrade and widen the route.

An array of new developments in the market for road recycling and stabilisation machines as well as milling equipment is now on offer - Mike Woof reports. Major new developments are being seen in the sector for road recycling and stabilisation equipment, as well as milling machines. New models are coming to market that benefit from the latest low emission engine technology to meet the increasingly tough European and North American requirements.

The use of sophisticated machine control technology has helped halve the schedule required for a road contract – Jeff Winke. By using the latest machine control systems on the equipment fleet, a US contractor has managed to halve worker hours, machine time and overall costs. “We chopped 50% off the contract schedule,” said Jim Swenson, licensed professional land surveyor for Oregon Mainline Paving based in McMinnville, Oregon. “The project was completed a year ahead of the two-year schedule,” he explained.

Brussels calls for 70% recycling of construction waste by 2020 but *Peter Craven asks if there is a greater target to be achieved in the UK. In the UK, over 90 million tonnes of construction, demolition and ground excavation (CD&E) waste is generated each year from construction, demolition and civil engineering projects. Across Europe this figure is well in excess of 1000 million tonnes and represents a valuable and sustainable asset to the construction sector, as well as protecting natural resources. The r

The milling machine market is increasingly competitive - Mike Woof reports. Having been a pioneer of the road milling machine market, it is no surprise that the Wirtgen group holds a dominant position in this sector. The company has arguably the broadest range of machines available with the widest array of options and features, to suit specific applications as well as regional requirements. The company has faced increasing levels of competition however, with firms such as BOMAG, Caterpillar, Dynapac, Roadte

Maintenance of roads in historic districts is a challenge for communities around the world. The sanctity of the surroundings limits the amount of re-engineering and widening that can be considered. Improvement options typically are limited to repairs. Yet repairs also have an impact. The historic areas usually attract tourists and their crucial economic contributions. If the street repairs create too much of an inconvenience, tourists are likely to avoid the area and a negative economic impact and a loss of

Productivity and profitability mean more than how many metres per minute your cold planer mills. In today’s world, precision is every bit as important as pace. Precision eliminates costly rework. It ensures crews don’t remove excess materials, and incur the associated costs in fuel, hauling and machine life. Precision also impacts the entire life—and cost—of a project by creating the proper foundation on which all subsequent work occurs. Cat® Grade and Slope for cold planers helps deliver that precision. Am

New technologies allow efficient use of recycled asphalt - Mike Woof writes The Eurobitume/Euroasphalt 2012 event in Istanbul earlier this year proved an important event with regard to asphalt recycling innovations. Key developments in this technology were announced, particularly in the field of asphalt production. One of the notable papers came from E-MAK, part of the Turkish Simge Group, which focused on its RATEK system. This technology is designed to use recycled asphalt and can produce greater throughp

South Africa takes crumb rubber use to the next level - *Anders Marschall Jensen The preservation of the environment is a global concept, and in the road construction industry, it is all about preservation of roads. In earlier days, roads were built with the primary goal of moving passenger traffic from one place to another, but these days, roads are very different. Not only is there passenger traffic, and more of it, but roads must also deal with extensive movement of products in heavy vehicles. Therefore,