Concrete choice

Highways England has agreed a deal with leading UK contractors potentially worth up to £3.3 billion to enable the company to respond more quickly when motorways and major A roads need to be resurfaced. A total of 11 companies have been signed up, with four contractors allocated to each geographical area. The chosen firms are: Aggregate Industries UK, Breedon Bow Highways, CEMEX Construction Services, Colas Ltd, Eurovia Infrastructure Ltd, FM Conway, Galliford Try Infrastructure Ltd, Hanson Contracting

Breedon Aggregates, the UK's largest independent cement quarrying business, is reported to be keen to buy any assets sold by Lafarge and Anglo American if they move to meet competition commission rules ahead of a potential €2.12billion tie-up of their UK cement companies.

Lafarge and Anglo American (Tarmac) have completed their 50:50 joint venture which combines their cement, aggregates, ready-mix concrete, asphalt and asphalt surfacing, maintenance services, and waste services businesses in the United Kingdom. The joint venture will be known as Lafarge Tarmac and it has started trading. Completion of the Lafarge Tarmac joint venture follows final clearance from the UK Competition Commission, predicated on the completed sale of a portfolio of Tarmac and Lafarge construction

Despite the current economic climate, or perhaps because of it, shows for mining and quarrying equipment are proving huge successes. As many quarry and other operators seek to reduce debt, they are still eager to view the latest technology and in many cases to buy it. While Europe and other parts of the world may still be looking for recovery, such events have shown that there is still a huge market for modern, new equipment. Intermat in Paris in April was the best ever with over 1,300 exhibitors and over 2