Features

The UKQAA (UK Quality Ash Association) has announced an extensive research programme into the recovery and use of stockpile fly ash, which is now underway. Guy Woodford reports. The UKQAA – the representative organisation for the producers and users of coal ash in the UK – has launched a new fly ash research project, in partnership with the Concrete Technology Unit (CTU) at the University of Dundee, to investigate whether stockpiled fly ash could be recovered and used as a pozzolana in concrete and cement.

Briloner Hartstein Werk quarry is heading towards one million tonnes a year of extracted limestone with the support of the Swedish giant. Some 155 million years ago, towards the end of the Jurassic period, a warm shallow sea studded with islands covered much of what is now Germany. Lagoons were cut off from the ocean and within these warm, isolated bodies of water, nothing could survive for very long: any organism that fell in from the land or was washed in by the ocean was buried in soft carbonate muds.

The versatility of concrete, the most widely used man-made material measured by tonnage, has been known for thousands of years writes Patrick Smith. Ancient Romans made wide use of concrete, the incredibly flexible and adaptive blend of water, aggregates, sand and cement, and today it is still being developed. For example, outside the more traditional uses, such as highways, bridges and buildings, global cement company Cemex is installing ecological concrete cookstoves to improve the quality of life of thou

A large variety of Volvo Construction Equipment models are playing a key role in the success of a Turkish marble quarry, as Guy Woodford reports.

Turkish mining company Yüce Maden is mining 170,000 tonnes of marble a year at a quarry in Sogut, a town in western Turkey, using a fleet of 34 Volvo Construction Equipment machines.
The past five years have seen an encouraging upturn in the Turkish economy, and one of the industries behind the economic revival is the marble mining sector.

A South African sand quarry’s discovery of a decomposed granite rock that significantly adds to its product range, coupled with cost saving initiatives, is paying dividends in a market hit by squeezed margins, writes Munesu Shoko.

The South African construction sector has been in decline for the past few years, and statistics suggest that it is a tale of a struggling industry battling to get back on its feet following robust growth experienced during the build up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup between 2004

The European Commission Programme looked ahead to push for more jobs, growth and investments in 2015 with new European Union initiatives, as well as cutting the red tape and clearing the decks.

In December 2014 the European Commission released its Work Programme for 2015, which includes a list of 23 new initiatives; a list of withdrawal or modifications of pending initiatives (80) and a list of “refits” in an attempt to cut red tape. This is in sharp contrast with the Barroso Commission, which, on an ann

With its highly innovative and expanding product portfolio for the quarrying and aggregates sector, Trimble Loadrite is geared up for strong growth in 2015. Aggregates Business Editor Guy Woodford spoke to the company’s General Manager, Johan Smet.

With its event-record 4,200 attendees from 83 countries, numerous product launches, and 584 educational sessions including both on- and off-site immersive training, Trimble Dimensions 2014, held in Las Vegas in early November 2014, is the ideal example of what