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The first results are in from a Europe-wide initiative to protect workers from respiratory crystalline silica, Lisa Russell reports As respirable dust, silica can penetrate deep into the lungs and silicosis is a well known health hazard when inhaled There is no getting away from silica thanks to its abundance in the earth's crust and its role as an essential ingredient in all kinds of objects from bricks and mortar to glasses and pots. But workers who inhale fine dust that contains respirable crystalline s

Even when you have the right machines on site, there are still adjustments that can be made to further improve efficiency. Claire Symes reports Rising energy prices and reducing demand means that many quarry operators are focusing on trying to lower the cost per tonne of production to maximise profitability. But according to Caterpillar international account manager Michael Porri, achieving this does not necessarily mean having to invest in new equipment. "Matching the right equipment for the task together

When completed, the 3200km Autoroute Transmaghrébine highway will connect North Africa together. ABE takes a look at the equipment and materials working on the Algerian part of the project Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya form the United Arab Maghréb and the countries will soon be joined together by something more physical than their name. Work is currently underway to con

Block paving has become a popular alternative to concrete or asphalt surfacing and innovative new designs can also help reduce flooding Whether it is attributable to global warming and changing weather patterns or more surface run-off, flooding seems to be a growing problem in Europe. It is estimated that around two thirds of home insurance claims for flood damage are now caused by surface water, rather than from rivers bursting their banks. The rate of development in some areas means that further surfacing

Michelin launched the first radial earthmover tyre 50 years ago. Claire Symes takes a look at the development The shortage of earthmover tyres has been regularly reported in the news recently, but 50 years ago such tyres were hitting the headlines for very different reasons. It was in 1959 that Michelin introduced the XR tyre - the first radial tyres for earthmoving equipment - and took tyres for construction equipment into a new era. Michelin's XR concept was tried and tested as it was based on the radial

Building materials in Finland should be treated equally, according to the Finnish Concrete Industry Association, following rumours of plans for wooden construction methods to be subsidised. The organisation believes that decision-makers are planning to favour wood for constructing new apartment blocks but the association has said that the market and customers should be in control of material choices.

Plans to scrap the fund generated by the UK's aggregates tax has been criticised by the Minerals Products Association which has said the plan will work against localism.Around 7% of the aggregates tax is currently used to create the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund which is used to fund community, NGO and stakeholder projects but plans to axe the fund have been unveiled by the UK government."There is no justification for this decision," said MPA chief executive Nigel Jackson. "The ALSF is an integral par

Sustainability will be the main focus of Lafarge's participation in the 2011 EcoBuild show in London, UK which is scheduled to take place between 1 and 3 March this year. The company's stand will bring together its three divisions - aggregates and concrete; cement; and plasterboard - for the first time at the show to highlight "how its vision focuses on keeping sustainability at the forefront of the business' operation".Lafarge Readymix marketing manager Felicity Jelly said, "This will be a pioneering event

The Portuguese cement company Secil has signed a contract to take over the concrete division, Lafarge Betoes, which belongs to the French group Lafarge.The French division, which oversees the concrete and aggregates business, runs 30 concrete plants and four aggregates processing facilities. The enterprise value of Lafarge Bretoes is estimated at €65 million, and to be concluded the deal must be cleared by Competition Authorities.

With financing from five banks in place to fund 50% the development of a 600,000tonne capacity cement plant in Montoir-de-Bretagne in Brittany, France, project owner Ciments Kercim has said the plant could be operational by the end of next year. Production from the plant will mainly serve ready mixed concrete plants in Western France.

Member companies of the British Association of Reinforcement (BAR) have agreed to formally affiliate with the Mineral Products Association (MPA). Welcoming the decision Graham Mackenzie, chairman of BAR, said: “I am delighted that we have taken this important step in affiliating the UK reinforcement representational body with other concrete organisations. BAR has a good history of representing the reinforcement sector, but the challenges in front of all of us are considerable.

Cemex UK has submitted plans to public consultation to increase the use of recycled fuels at its Rugby cement plant from 30% to 65%.The main fuel used at the site is Climafuel which is derived from residual household and commercial waste and the report evaluates the increase to either 65% Climafuel and 35% coal or 53% Climafuel, 12% chipped tyres and 35% coal.Cemex has said that the draft report demonstrates that the increased use of Climafuel has produced positive results. It shows that during the evaluati

Heidelberg Cement is aiming to achieve savings of €600million over the next three years through a new operational and financial strategy branded FOX 2013."The continued and consistent focus on cash and cost is a key success factor of our company strategy," explained Heidelberg CEO Dr Bernd Scheifele. "Building on our strong cost and efficiency track record in recent years, we have bundled several cash and cost saving projects in the new three-year financial and operational excellence programme.Main focus of

Slovakia-based Calmit has gained consent to continue limestone quarrying at Tisovec for another five years. The company has said that it does not plan to increase production but does intend to invest €2.3million in a new aggregate crushing and screening plant in 2012.

The Finance Act 2011, adopted definitively by the French parliament in December 2010, introduces a new allocation for the tax on polluting activities (TGAP) on building materials.At least 50% of the sums collected through the tax will be paid to local authorities (the towns near which quarries are installed) to help them finance environment protection actions and local road maintenance.Towns exposed to "risks and disadvantages" generated by the extraction activity should receive the remaining money.The prof

France's professional association for cement producers has announced plans to try and promote the image of concrete to the general public. Cimbéton plans to launch an online competition that will award around 100 concrete houses in a bid to improve understanding of the use of concrete in society.

Heidelberg Cement has reported that like for like demand for cement, aggregates and ready mixed concrete was up in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to the same period in the previous year, despite the early start of the winter weather in Europe.This positive trend in the final three months helped the company to finish the year with a turnover of €11.8billion, up 5.8% from 2009 and a rise of 8.6% in operating income at €1.43billion."We are pleased with our Q4 results, which we realised despite an extreme

The president of French cement industry union SFIC said he expected a 7% drop in national demand for cement in 2012. Rachid Benyakhlef said the reduced demand would contrast the 8.6% cement demand increase in 2011. He added that cement production was expected to be under 20million tonnes in 2012. Despite the forecasted decline in demand for cement, Holcim is opening a new grinding unit in La Pallice, and Kercim is opening a new grinding unit in Saint-Nazaire.

Delivery of crushing and screening equipment by Screen Machine to the US Air Force base in Kandahar in Afghanistan is helping to provide vital construction materials for infrastructure development.Screen Machine helped to set up the new equipment on site in KandaharThe US-based company has supplied a JXT jaw crusher, 4043T impact crusher, Spyder 516T screening plant and CH40 radial stacking conveyor for the project. The equipment was shipped to Kerachi in Pakistan and then transported by road to Kandahar -

A security breach at the Greek emission registry has led to around €4.4million of carbon permits belong to Halyps Cement being stolen, according to Haylps' communications manager Pagona Liggou. Greek Police have confirmed that they have isolated several IP addresses used by the hackers to infiltrate the registry's systems and are following up these leads.It is understood that the thefts in Greece are part of a wider problem and around €45million worth of permit has been stolen from the national registries o