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A critical milestone was reached in July 2012, when the US Congress passed, and President Obama signed, legislation reauthorising the nation's surface transportation programs, breaking a nearly three-year log-jam which had blocked critical transportation reforms and delayed much-needed infrastructure projects. In a town where compromise is sometimes considered an endangered species, Republicans and Democrats came together during a months-long series of negotiations and hashed out a bipartisan agreement that

Ritchie Bros Auctioneers, auctioneers of heavy equipment and trucks, will hold its first unreserved public auction in China during early 2013. Although relatively new to the Chinese heavy equipment market, unreserved industrial auctions have been a quick and easy method for equipment buyers and sellers to conduct business on a global scale. The Canada-based company says has it will bring the certainty of unreserved auctions to Chinese equipment buyers and sellers now that its wholly-owned foreign enterpris

Sandvik Construction has appointed Terra Romania is to be its new distributor for the mobile crushing and screening product range throughout Romania. Terra will also be providing full aftermarket care, spare parts and dedicated customer service, as well as looking after used equipment sales and providing customer training. Terra Romania is part of a prestigious international group, active in the fields of construction machinery and industrial equipment since 2001.

Metso is strengthening its presence in the fast growing Chinese construction market through two strategic actions: establishing a joint venture with the LiuGong Group and acquiring 75% ownership of Shaorui Heavy Industries. Metso says it continuously strives to better serve the needs of Chinese customers and to support the sustainable development of China's industries and infrastructure. Metso and LiuGong will form a 50%-50% joint venture to develop the track-mounted crushing and screening business in China

Extraction and mobile crushing and screening specialist Jim Jamieson of Ellon, County Aberdeenshire, Scotland, has taken delivery of the first Volvo EC250D excavator to be sold in Great Britain which has gone to work at the company’s Ardelethen Quarry. The new machine replaces and EC240C which was originally purchased in 2008 and joins a mixed fleet in the Jamieson arsenal which includes eight Volvo-branded machines and an FMX road tipper.

For 40 years, the Ernst Schmidheiny Foundation has been supporting special project weeks designed to provide young people in Switzerland with a grounding in economics and business management. As part of its centenary celebrations, building materials group Holcim is making a donation of 5 million Swiss francs (€4.15 million) in recognition of the major commitment shown by the foundation and its partners.

Randi S. Egeland has resigned as the managing director of the Norwegian concrete company AS Betong. After 33 years spent with the company, Egeland felt it was time to take on a new challenge, and will remain in the industry with Hå Element, where she will serve as the company's daily manager.

The Kazakhastani and Polish company Tines Manufacture Railway Kaz has launched production of concrete supporting blocks via the facilities of Magnetik enterprise. It will manufacture reinforced concrete sleepers in the Almaty region of Kazakhastan. The output will reach 65,000 items per year.

Randi S. Egeland has resigned as the managing director of the Norwegian concrete company AS Betong. After 33 years spent with the company, Egeland felt it was time to take on a new challenge, and will remain in the industry with Hå Element, where she will serve as the company's daily manager.

Randi S. Egeland has resigned as the managing director of the Norwegian concrete company AS Betong. After 33 years spent with the company, Egeland felt it was time to take on a new challenge, and will remain in the industry with Hå Element, where she will serve as the company's daily manager.

Hanson’s range of dense aggregate blocks now contains Regen, reducing embodied CO2 by up to 30%, claims the company. Regen, a ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), is a by-product of the iron-making industry and is used as a cement replacement.

Cemex in France has supplied 40,000m³ of concrete for 26.6km of tracks and overlays for a 13.3km long ‘green’ tramline in Le Havre, France. For the first time in France, the wheels of the tram will run on concrete beams that will provide greater clearance from the ground, which promotes grass growth and reduces spray between the tracks.
The Y-shaped route for the tramline connects the west and east stations of the city with the centre of Le Havre before following a single line to the Port Océane station. T

Subsidiaries of the holding company Siberian Cement (SibCem) have reported results for January-September 2012.
It total SibCem mined 3.54 million tonnes of limestone (96.2% of the planned amount) and 763,300tonnes of loam (100.6%) in Q1-3 2012. The mining divisions of Topkinsky Cement produced 2.38 million tonnes of limestone (95.6%); Krasnoyarsk Cement 614,200tonnes (96.3%); Timlyuy Cement Plant 310,700tonnes (109.3%), and Mining Company 230,800tonnes (87.6%).

Cemex is reported to be offering employees in Spain who are affected by its labour force adjustment plan compensation to the value of 25 days’ pay per year worked, up to a maximum of 15 months, and relocation abroad (France, Mexico, Colombia and Germany).

HeidelbergCement has cancelled its long-standing rating agreement with the rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P). The rating agreements with the internationally-recognised rating agencies FitchRatings and Moody's will continue unchanged. “Thanks to its outstanding reputation at the credit markets and the ratings from Moody’s and Fitch, HeidelbergCement retains a strong capability to successfully execute capital market transactions at attractive terms,” says the company. HeidelbergCement is rated as an issue

French cement group Lafarge is said to be concerned about two projects for clinker grinding units in Le Havre.
According to reports, the company Smeg, operator of the bulk terminal at Le Havre port, wants to set up a clinker grinding unit and a storage and handling activity but has had its project to build storage silos suspended.
The company Vracs de l'Estuaire, which also wants to set up a clinker grinding unit, has received all administrative authorisation but the project is now blocked as the loading

In the UK, M&K Macleod, which has interests in house building, quarrying and property development, recorded pre-tax profits of £753,732 (€938,130.10) in the year to 31 May 2012, up from profits of £675,189 (€839,000) the previous year. Turnover rose from £19.2 million (€23.86 million) to £21.9 million (€27.22 million). A rise in activity across all operations contributed to the improved performance, which was achieved despite what it described as fragile construction industry confidence.

According to Finnish broadcasting company Yleisradio's News, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Policy has discussed the sale of infrastructure company Destia. Parliament granted authorisation for the sale of Destia shares in 2011, but stated at that time that the state must continue to hold a significant majority in Destia.

According to CEO of Ireland-based CRH, Myles Lee, the construction materials company could increase spending for mergers and acquisitions to between €1 billion and €1.5 billion in the coming 18 months, should worthy opportunities arise. A total of 45% of the company's revenue in 2011 was accounted for by sales in the US (based on Bloomberg's compiled data), and the announcement comes at a time when the housing sector in the US is recovering. Figures from the US Commerce Department indicated that housing sta

Global demand for industrial silica sand is projected to grow 4.8% annually to 280 million tonnes in 2016, with a value of US $9.2 billion (€7.2 billion). Glass production and foundries will continue to be the largest markets, although faster gains will be registered by the developing hydraulic fracturing sector. The Asia/Pacific region will account for the largest share of additional silica sand demand, driven by a healthy outlook for construction and foundry output, particularly in China and India. Outsi