Features

An upswing in new infrastructure worldwide means that demand for aggregates and therefore concrete is also increasing. Housing, non-residential, road, rail and bridges are among projects now under construction in many countries.

Indeed, statistics show that twice as much concrete is used in construction around the world than the total of all other building materials, including wood, steel, plastic and aluminium, and annual production is measured in billions of tonnes.

Reporting from Zambia, Shem Orier

Before Christmas, the European Commission published a package of proposals aimed at improving quality of Europe’s air,despite concern from across industry. Simon Trahair-Davies of Stephens Scown LLP sets out the proposals with particular reference to a proposal, as part of that package, to introduce a directive on emissions from medium combustion plants.

On the 18 December 2013, the European Commission published its Clean Air P

A new heavy rig-mounted breaker from is helping a company carry out a major rock excavation project.
The RX46 breaker from Chicago Pneumatic is being used by Ballut Blocks, one of Malta’s largest civil engineering contractors, to meet challenging productivity targets on the project, which involves the excavation of 1 million m3 of rock over a period of four years without the use of explosives.
With a service weight of 3,000kg, the RX46 breaker is one of the largest ever used on the Mediterranean island of

Stallion for Investment says it has improved aggregate quality, operational productivity and efficiency at a customer’s site in Egypt. Patrick Smith reports

On 18 September, 2013 Amit Bhatia tweeted that it was a proud day as Hope Cement had delivered its one millionth ton of cement, only nine months in. Just before the year’s end another tweet revealed that Hope Cement Works Kiln 1 had broken its 2011 record of a 2,160-hour run.

It is now 50 years since the first hydraulic breakers were manufactured. Atlas Copco Construction Tools, based at Essen in Germany, is celebrating the 50th anniversary since it launched its very first hydraulic breaker. Meanwhile similar celebrations are being held in France by Montabert, writes Mike Woof.
Atlas Copco bought the Krupp Berco Bautechnik business that developed the hydraulic breaker range in 2002 and along with Montabert, both firms claim to have developed the first hydraulic breaker. Exactly

Crushing plants from Northern Ireland-based Powerscreen are being used by Demolition Services (DSI) to demolition and recycle the historic 193,000m² Navy Annex seven-building complex, to expand the Arlington National Cemetery in the USA.
The 17 hectare site, built in 1941 as a temporary warehouse, was converted to federal office use after Pearl Harbour, and served as Marine Corps headquarters for over 50 years as well as providing office space for US Navy personnel. It also was used extensively during th