Features

Construction on site for this year's Bauma exhibition in Munich, Germany is now underway. ABE takes a look at what highlights may be on offer at the show. While it may be another couple of months before Germany's Bauma Construction Equipment Exhibition opens its doors, work on the site is well underway for what will be the largest event ever. With over 3000 exhibitors planned to cover a record breaking 550,000m2, Bauma is not only the largest construction equipment exhibition but also the largest exhibition

Turkey has a wealth of stone deposits and its internal aggregates consumption is expected to rise in line with increased development. Lisa Russell reports. Turkey is very lucky in terms of its geology, according to Ozgur Ozturk, who is raw materials manager at Akçansa and represents the Turkish Aggregates Producer's Association (AGÜB) at the European Aggregates Association (UEPG). "There are so many kinds of geological formations and outcrops - it is possible to find any kind of rock in Turkey," he said.

There is no doubt that 2009 was a difficult year for the aggregates industry and the first of the full year reports seem to suggest business was down a third on 2008 levels. Nonetheless, there seems to be a lot of optimism that things will gradually improve accross Europe in the coming 12 months. This optimism is fairly widespread too and is coming from quarry operators, construction equipment producers and building materials consumers alike. However, it does seem to come with the universal caveat of the ne

Almost three years ago permission was granted for a huge extension to an existing quarry in a rural area. It would produce 30million tonnes and secure the site's future for the next 50 years or so. Soon after permission was given for the expansion, I visited the site to prepare a report for Aggregates Business Europe. While I discussed all aspects of the site, the quarry manager (explaining the equipment and how the quarry operated) was equally interested in discussing its award-winning environmental approa

Caterpillar displayed the Twenty dozer for the first time in 1927 and this year the machine was featured again at its Conexpo stand to demonstrate the evolution in construction machinery. ompared to the modern construction machinery equipment on display at this year's Conexpo exhibition in Las Vegas, US in March, Caterpillar's Expo Twenty dozer looked very small. But its size belied the significance of the design within the company's innovation history.

Legislative and social pressure is increasing the demand for quantified monitoring of dust and respirable particulates as ABE discovered. Local and environmental authorities and health at work bodies are paying ever more attention to dust issues, both in terms of potential nuisance and because of any possible health implications.

Europe's top performing sustainable aggregates companies gathered in Munich in May for the presentation of the UEPG Sustainable Development Awards. Sustainable development strategies are an essential part of modern business in the quarrying industry but some companies still perform better than others. The UEPG's Sustainable Development Awards encourage companies to integrate and address all three dimensions of sustainability during the whole production process.

An innovative transport system is used at a limestone quarry to move heavy equipment around. ABE reports. Scandinavia’s largest limestone quarry is going to experience a new progress when the original quarry is worked out. In 2013 it plans to bring a new quarry into use on the island of Gotland, off the east coast of Sweden, where limestone has been mined since 1658.

Opening up quarries to local communities under the European Minerals day was the brainchild of the Industrial Minerals Association. Claire Symes talked to IMA president Thierry Salmona in the build up to the next event in 2011. Some of the biggest opponents to new quarries and extensions of existing ones are local residents and their campaigning power can halt access to high quality reserves. But how many of them really understand the need for aggregates and minerals on a regional basis or have seen the ben