Videos

The Route One team presents comprehensive coverage from the first day of INTERMAT, including news, views and all the latest products at one of the biggest shows in the construction industry.

You can find all kinds of things at INTERMAT from diggers to dancers; huge excavators to dinky dozers.

Dressta VP & Global Sales, Howard C. Dale explains how construction and technology are coming together through a partnership with Trimble

Volvo’s new H-Series vehicles offer outstanding fuel efficiency without compromising performance, with the operator having full control over the load for increased safety and productivity.

Chinese group explains why it is expanding into Europe, stressing the importance of the market to the long-term health of the industry – and Dressta, the Polish firm LiuGong acquired, talks about its own plans.

Company shows off its new 6-tonne capacity asphalt mixer in Paris, a product aimed at the growing market in recycling and characterised by low energy consumption and high quality output.

Specialist contractor Armac recently demolished a bridge over the UK’s busy M1 motorway. The work was carried out within a tight timeframe as this important route could only be closed for a short period at night over a weekend when traffic would be at its lightest so as to minimise disruption.

Explosives were used successfully in the US to demolish the Long Island Bridge. The structure formerly provided a connection to Squantum's Long Island, however it had fallen into disrepair and a decision was made to remove the structure. A section of the Long Island Bridge was demolished by a specialist contractor. This saw the implosion of a229m section of the structure connecting with the island.

New road safety videos made in France and Finland are giving strong messages on road safety. The new French video, launched in February, shows in bleak, close-up images the impact of road collisions on several individuals who suffered life changing injuries, and their families. It follows a number of increasingly shocking films released in recent months that have included a class of primary school children wiped out by a car, a fake ‘funeral’ for speeding motorists and a film released by police showing the moments leading up to a real, fatal motorcycle collision.

Demolition work is proceeding to plan on the old Bay Bridge in California. The structure is being removed piece by piece in a tightly controlled demolition project being carried out by a number of specialist firms. Strict guidelines cover how the demolition workers can proceed, with regulations preventing debris from falling into the water for example. Safety of the demolition personnel is another of the key criteria.

Planned demolition work continues on the Chain of Rocks Bridge in the US. The second of three planned blasts has now been carried out, successfully dropping another section of the structure into the canal beneath. The bridge used to carry Interstate 270 but has been replaced with a new structure lying close at hand. The old bridge lies just to the north of the city of St Louis, with the eastern end of the structure on Chouteau Island in Illinois and the western end is in Missouri.  The final section of the bridge will be removed in due course.

A fatal bridge collapse occurred in the US State of Ohio. The structure was under demolition when it collapsed. A demolition job was being carried out on the bridge when it collapsed unexpectedly, killing one of the workers in the process. A truck crashed into the debris as it collapsed but its driver escaped serious Injury. The bridge was located on I-75, close to the city of Cincinnati. The problem of ageing bridge structures is serious in the US and in Ohio, around one in five bridges are in need of replacement.

A US contractor has carried out a successful demolition job on a bridge using excavators fitted with hydraulic breakers. The fleet of 178 Caterpillar excavators used for the work managed to break up the ageing structure in just 11 hours. The old Pigeon Roost road bridge will now be replaced with another, more modern structure better able to carry the necessary traffic load. The 1500 Mississippi Department of Transportation filmed the job using time lapse techniques to show the 11 hour job condensed into just 49 stunning seconds.

A successful explosive demolition project for an old bridge has been carried out in the US state of Missouri. The Fairfax Bridge was constructed in 1935 and was no longer able to meet current transportation needs. Some 760m long the bridge was carrying around 6,000 vehicles/day. Another bridge was also opened nearby, the Platte Purchase Bridge, in 1957 to help the original structure carry the necessary traffic volumes. Removing the old structure of the Fairfax Bridge as well as the Platte Purchase Bridge and replacing them with a new bridge is costing around US$79 million.