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United States-based Ash Grove Cement Company has appointed Cheng Qi as its technical center director at the firm’s headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas. In his new role, Qi, who has a doctorate in civil engineering (with an emphasis on cement and concrete materials), oversees operations of the company’s technical center, a world-class laboratory for research and testing of aggregates, cement, concrete and lime. The technical center was established in the 1960s to offer customised technical service, product

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) claims its new upgraded simulator is the first globally to allow excavator, wheeled loader and articulated hauler operators to interact in the same virtual environment.

In my role as Editor of Aggregates Business International - Asia, Africa & Middle East over the last two years, I’ve noted the huge growth in the use of plant automation in modern quarrying across the world.

Trips to Finland, Portugal, Italy, France and Germany – as well as to Hillhead 2016 in Buxton, England – since the last issue of Aggregates Business Europe. It’s been a busy time for yours truly and it’s given me a great chance to visit a huge number of large, medium and small companies operating within the quarrying equipment sector.

Tarmac’s Hindlow quarry near Buxton, county Derbyshire, England now boasts a 75 metre long piece of land art produced by contemporary artist Eddy Dreadnought. The shape of the giant ‘land drawings’ was inspired by the pattern of the rails, once used by ‘stone pickers’ to wheel hand wagons, filled with freshly-blasted limestone from the quarry face. These were used in Hindlow up until the 1950s.

Hanson UK’s new free online training portal aims to help merchants and their staff improve their knowledge of cement and in turn improve their customer service. The Hanson Merchant Academy aids understanding of the company’s core cement product range to ensure merchant teams sell the right product for the job.

Sandvik Construction’s new Commando DC130Ri – a rubber tired compact size top hammer drill rig - is the latest addition to the quarrying equipment manufacturing giant’s surface drilling product portfolio. A modular design and practical components layout, coupled with a new efficient rock drill and a new intelligent control system with large on-board touch screen are said to be the core features of the DC130Ri.

A global leader in bulk handling equipment has introduced an innovative technology that uses the kinetic energy from a moving conveyor belt to generate enough power to run a variety of electronic systems. Martin Engineering designed the Martin Roll Gen System to create a self-contained mini power station that allows operators to run electrical monitoring systems and safety mechanisms. Able to be retrofitted on existing idler support structures, operators are not required to maintain a special stock of conv

A new Cat AP600F paver used by Maltese contractor Bonnici Brothers has helped with important resurfacing work at Malta’s International Airport. The machine was able to carry out the paving job within a tight timeframe, due to its high productivity. The work was needed at the airport as part of a programme to increase its capacity. Malta is seeing growth in passenger numbers at the airport both from business travellers and tourists and there was a need to upgrade the facility.

The Mineral Products Association (MPA) is the trade association for the UK’s aggregates, asphalt, cement, concrete, dimension stone, lime, mortar and silica sand businesses. Here, Robina Longworth, the MPA’s Communications and Public Affairs Executive, highlights the Association’s vital and comprehensive work on health and safety.

Savvy automation is at the heart of the new complete plant solution designed and installed by Metso for CMGO (Colas) at the French firm’s Grand-Champ quarry near Vannes in Brittany. Guy Woodford went onsite to see the ambitious project in action.

Successful Portuguese stone product firm Solancis is using proven and highly efficient Caterpillar wheeled loaders, excavators and articulated trucks for its crucial quarry-based limestone block loading and hauling. Guy Woodford visited the company to see them in action.

Starting on January 1, 2017, Wilfried Trepels will take on his new role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and member of the Executive Board at Wacker Neuson. Trepels takes over the position from Günther C. Binder, who will be stepping down from the Executive Board.

After the recent acquisition of six companies in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar, one of the Middle East’s leading suppliers of aggregates and asphalt has chosen 3i Infotech’s flagship product, ORION ERP Suite, to consolidate its country operations. In line with its development strategy in the Middle East, the company, which specialises in road construction, deployed ORION ERP Suite to set up the business processes at the ground level.

CNH Industrial has appointed Carl Gustaf Göransson as Brand President Case Construction Equipment and New Holland Construction, together with the role of President, Construction Equipment Products Segment. He will also become a member of the Group Executive Council (GEC), which is the highest executive decision-making body within Italy-headquartered CNH Industrial outside of its Board of Directors.

Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources has granted cement giant Cemex an Honourable Mention for the 2016 National Award of Ecological Merit. The award is the country’s most important environmental recognition and was presented to Cemex for its conservation and restoration efforts under the company’s El Carmen Conservation Program.

Regional contractor Windisch has put five Terex Trucks TA300 articulated haulers to work shifting 1.4 million m³ of earth on the A5 motorway extension in Austria. The 28-tonne capacity TA300s have been selected by local contractor Windisch to take part in the expansion of the North Autobahn (A5), which will form a modern highway between Vienna in Austria and Brno in the Czech Republic. The proven performers are working 12-hour shifts, six days a week.

Martin Riley, senior VP of Tarmac, explains why we need a new careers language when it comes to developing skills of those working in the sustainable building materials sector. “Our industry is undergoing a new era of skills development. Yet I suspect that skills and aspirational career opportunities might not be the first words that come to mind when people think of quarrying or construction.

On 16 June 2016, a conference gathering of more than 90 participants in Brussels, Belgium, took stock of the achievements of the Social Dialogue Agreement on Workers’ Health Protection through the Good Handling and Use of Crystalline Silica and products containing it, ten years after its signature.

Keith Miller, chairman of earthmoving attachments manufacturer Miller UK, is preparing to take on an epic charity cycling challenge in Italy next week as part of the Virgin Strive Challenge.