Features

Quarrying remains a dangerous industry in which to work and since 2000 nearly 3,500 workers have reported an injury to the UK’s HSE (Health and Safety Executive), 29 of which were fatal.

However, each year globally many more people are involved in accidents in quarries, and the recent Hillhead show in England, which attracted over 17,500 visitors, including international visitors, highlighted the need for highly visible personal protective equipment (PPE).

In the UK, which has one of the best safety r

As one of the biggest mergers in aggregates’ industry history is expected to be confirmed in the first half of 2015, we present a view from Aggregate Research Ltd, providers of strategic and operational advisory services across aggregates and related industries, whose consultancy team offers 80 years of collective commercial experience.

Industry interest was captured earlier this year by the announcement of the proposed Holcim/Lafarge merger. Many analysts are still poring over the details of the ambitio

Long-term growth in asphalt demand will be primarily driven by the continuously expanding highways across the world, needed to accommodate the massively growing automobile population.

A new report, Asphalt: A Global Strategic Business Report, produced by Global Industry Analysts (GIA), points out that key innovations that are poised to benefit the market through to 2020 include noise-reducing hot-mix asphalt for lowering traffic noise, and the introduction of green technologies for eco-friendly productio

Driven by the price of virgin aggregates and strong environmental concerns, the recycling of reclaimed asphalt is already, and will increasingly be, a hot topic within the asphalt plants’ and associated equipment manufacturing sector, says Kathrin Richter, marketing manager for Ammann’s Asphalt Division.

Until a few years ago, the question was: How much reclaimed asphalt can one add to the recipe mix? Today, the question is more likely to be: How much fresh material should I add to the reclaimed asphalt

For some years now the recycling of materials worldwide has been near the top of the environmental agenda but it can mean different things to different people. Depending on the country, what constitutes recycling will differ greatly. For example, in some instances simply crushing the material and taking it to landfill can be regarded as recycling, writes Patrick Smith.

But for one German company, involved in a project backed by the European Eco Innovation Fund, it means moving waste material up the value

Conveyors have always played a key role in quarry operations but new developments are improving their potential to boost productivity, writes Patrick Smith.

With the high cost of fuel, conveyors are seen as an alternative hauling option in many European quarries, often offering benefits in stockpiling.

A leading asphalt plant manufacturer is claiming a RAP production first. Guy Woodford reports

With its rich history of innovation, US firm Astec Industries is now claiming to be the only asphalt plant manufacturer offering asphalt mix producers a 100% RAP [Recycled Asphalt Pavement] plant.

Having introduced the Conexpo 2014-launched RAP KING plant to its product line, Astec says it can now offer a complete array of plants covering the spectrum from 0%-100% RAP usage.

Astec president Malcolm Swanson

Major crushing and screening equipment manufacturers unveiled many new machines at the Hillhead 2014 event, making use of the quarry setting near Buxton, County Derbyshire, England, for demonstrations and static displays of the latest technology. Patrick Smith reports.

Kleemann staged at Hillhead 2014 the global première of its mobile cone crusher in the Contractor class, the MOBICONE MCO 9 EVO, which the Wirtgen Group brand says closes one of the final gaps in its product range. It has a crushing capaci

Equipment theft is a huge problem across Europe, with organised criminals preying on the ill-prepared and the unwary. Insurance industry estimates put the total cost of equipment theft at over €7 billon/year.

But CESAR (Construction and Agricultural Equipment Security and Registration) security and registration system, said to be the most successful scheme of its type anywhere in the world, is widely regarded as having had a marked effect in reducing equipment theft in the UK since its launch in January

Worldwide sales of aggregates for construction markets are forecast to increase to 53.2 billion tonnes by the end of 2017. Annual global growth of 5.8% is expected, of which at least half will be driven from China, according to the US industry market research company Freedonia Group. China’s astonishing growth of the past decade is expected to ease over the next few years, but it will still account for more than 50% of all additional construction aggregates demand, writes Jon Masters.

Indeed, Komatsu and

A quarry in South Korea is building up its equipment fleet as demand for new roads and other infrastructure linked to the country’s staging of the 2018 Winter Olympics has created huge commercial opportunities for national aggregates sector firms. Guy Woodford reports

A popular South Korean holiday destination thanks to its picturesque landscape, golf courses and woodland, Wonju’s beauty is not just skin deep: the city is part of a region boasting mineral-rich ground and is a haven for extracting granite