Quarry Products

Cemex in Latvia is supplying building solutions, including over 80,000 m³ of specialty ready-mix concrete, for major improvements to Riga International Airport, which are expected to be completed in August 2014. Originally built in 1973, the airport is the largest in the Baltic States and serves nearly 5 million people annually. “We are proud to be the partner of choice for this important project which will benefit millions of residents and visitors for many years to come,” says Cemex Latvia Country Directo

A facility mining and processing non-metallic minerals is opened in the Ingush Republic, Russia. It has 20m³/hour automated concrete mixer and 90m³/hour screening and crushing machine. The investments totalled RUB 149 million (€3.45 million), and the new facility is to provide road metal, sand and concrete to all construction sites in the republic.

Austrian construction materials maker Asamer, whose main products are gravel and concrete, is said to have confirmed media reports suggesting that it will restructure. Talks to this effect are expected to be completed by the end of 2013. One of the options considered is splitting off the south-eastern European business, especially that of Croatia, in a separate company.

The Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) have introduced a targeted Lane Rental scheme. It allows TfL to charge companies a daily fee for undertaking roadworks on the UK capital’s busiest roads at the busiest times. This scheme should encourage more efficient working and reduce disruption from roadworks. One way to help minimise the amount of time that works disrupt traffic is to clarify the early-age strength requirement of concretes, and other cement bound materials, used for the reinstatement o

Concrete will be one of the major components of Europe’s largest construction project, Crossrail. As 1,000tonne tunnel boring machines (TBMs) work on excavating the 42km of new Crossrail tunnels (21km of twin-bore) under central London, some 250,000 concrete segments to line them must be produced at two special factories. The TBMs will bore the tunnelled section of the 118km rail line, linking Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west with Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. When completed, Crossrail will bring

Located 50km from the capital Doha, Qatari Primary Materials (QPMC) operates one of the world’s largest sand cleaning plants. With temperatures reaching 40°C and 64,000tonnes of aggregate needed to be handled for every export shipment, Volvo Construction Equipment’s wheeled loaders are helping with operations in the gas-rich state. Volvo CE is involved in one of the country’s largest industrial operations, having provided QPMC with a fleet of machines to help the state-owned company meet the needs of both l

Advances in asphalt technology are leading to new mixes, such as one being trialled in Scotland. Patrick Smith reports. Developments in asphalt technology are helping to reduce emissions and make products cheaper to manufacture. New additives and the increasing use of warm mix asphalts are all playing their part in the advances. One example of this technology can be found in the UK. A 3.8km section of the M90 motorway, north of the Forth Road Bridge, near Edinburgh, Scotland, has become the first stretch of

Lafarge has successfully completed an industrial trial for Aether, its new generation clinker formulated for lower carbon cements. The trial mobilised a team of around 100 people over a ten-day period at the group's plant in Le Teil, France. It allowed the production of 10,000tonnes of Aether clinker, confirming the feasibility of industrial-scale production using traditional raw materials. The launch of the first Aether products is planned for 2014. The result of several years of research by Lafarge R&D te

Dutch researchers have produced tablets that help concrete repair itself. A self-healing concrete that can patch up cracks by itself is being tested outdoors, say researchers at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands. The experimental concrete contains limestone-producing bacteria that are activated by corrosive rainwater working its way into the structure. Developed by microbiologist Dr Henk Jonkers and concrete technologist Professor Eric Schlangen, the material could potentially inc