Search

Aggregate production for a US$100million canal construction project in south eastern Turkey has been improved with the delivery of a new mobile washing plant. Eren Insaat has invested in a new M2500 mobile washing plant for the project which involves construction of a 63km length of the 221km canal (see ABE July/Aug 2010) which will transfer water from the Ataturk reservoir for agricultural irrigation. Eren has said that it invested in the plant because it can be moved with the mobile crushing and screening

Italcementi has said that it plans to invest €3.1billion in improving its production between 2009 and 2014 to drive an annual compound growth rate of between 3.7 and 4.1% during the period. The company is also finalising a syndicated revolving loan of €920million with Italy-based Mediobanca as the lead organisation to refinance its debt.

Eurovia has announced the launch of its Granulat+ initiative in a bid to maximise its aggregate reserves. Through the programme the company is also aiming to add value to inert excavated material by using it to create recycled aggregate material. The company has said that it will use innovative treatments, improvement projects and a special separation system for inert excavated material as part of the initiative. The project will also involve each site integrating environmental concerns into its production,

Cuddy Group is to invest £600,000 in new crushing and screening equipment to improve operation of Cemex’s Wenvoe Quarry in South Wales. The contractor has recently won a contract with Cemex to operate the quarry.

Czech Republic-based Teplarna Strakonice has announced plans to produce a recycled gravel aggregate from waste ashes produced at its heating plant facility. The company is investing over €775,000 in the project that will recycle 6000tonnes of ash each year. Production is expected to start in May.

UK-based Breedon Aggregates, which was recently acquired by Marwyn Materials, has announced the appointment of Tim Hall as its new chief executive from 1 October. Hall joins Breedon from Tarmac Western where he held the post of managing director. The business he operated was formed by Anglo American from merger of Tarmac, Nash Rocks and Tilcon in 2000, before which Hall was managing director of Nash Rocks and had worked for the company for 27 years.

Patrick Olney is to take on the role of president and CEO at Volvo Construction Equipment, according to an announcement from the company. Olney has worked in the construction equipment industry for 17 years and joined Volvo 10 years ago. “This is an exciting time in our industry and in Volvo CE in particular. I am honoured to have the opportunity to continue the implementation of our Fit for the Future strategy which has been very successful so far,” said Olney.

Lafarge has announced that it has gained financial backing from the EU for its Aether project which aims to reduce the CO2 footprint of cement. This support is provided under the European “LIFE+” programme, a financing instrument supporting environmental projects. Aether has been developed in collaboration with the Institute for Building Materials in Poland (MBM) and the British Building Research Establishment (BRE). It will contribute to continuing the reduction on the Group’s CO2 emissions.

Norway-based contractor Veidekke has announced that it has acquired the business of Entreprenør M. Kristiseter in Møre og Romsdal county of Norway. The company has not disclosed the value of the deal but the concrete contractor is understood to have posted a turnover of over €25million in 2009.

Cemex has announced that it has acquired the family-owned Casema aggregate production facility in Vatteville la Rue in Normandy, France. The quarry produces around 250,000tonnes of aggregates each year for the ready mixed and precast concrete markets. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Advances in precast concrete element design is helping to improve environmental performance, deliver complex designs and speed up work on site

Concrete used to be thought of as a dull, grey and utilitarian construction material, but the latest precast techniques are helping to change that perception. Today the dramatic forms of new buildings and structures across Europe are being delivered quickly and easily thanks to precast concrete.

According to the European federation for the sector Bureau Interna

Cemex has reported reduced machine operating costs following introduction of Eco-Drive training for its operators in the UK. So far 350 equipment operators have undergone Finning’s Eco-Drive programme which aims to educate trainees on the best way to use a machine to minimise fuel costs and maximise productivity. Cemex has charted the benefits by tracking data from its operations, pre and post training. Eco-Drive project manager and Cemex UK’s national operations project manager, Craig Hooper has seen the b

Cemex’s ability to demonstrate an “exceptional customer experience” that delivered customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention and advocacy has helped the company win an award in the US. Cemex won the customer experience category at the CRM Excellence Awards as a result of its efforts. The goal of the CRM Excellence Awards is to establish a standard of excellence for customer-focused organisations and honour those companies that effectively bring together strategy, technology and execution to deliver ideal cu

Trio is focusing on growing its European business with the appointment of a new regional sales and operations director for the region. The company has announced that David Blench is to take on the role and will be responsible for leading regional, Europe-based sales and operations personnel, while also helping further expand the company's penetration into regional aggregate and mining markets in the EU, Eastern Europe, and parts of Africa. Blench will also lead the company's regional technical and after mar

The European Aggregates Association is promoting improvement of the European legislative framework to further increase the use of recycled aggregates. Recycled and secondary aggregates are making an increasingly important contribution to the aggregate demand in Europe as they work to reduce virgin extraction. However, the level of recycling, the appreciation of the recycled material and its application are significantly different in EU Member States. By transferring this recycling knowledge, it is possible

Reuse of overburden normally makes good economic sense but for one UK quarry it has been the subject of a 20 year legal battle. Claire Symes reports. In many quarries overburden stripped to access the rock resource is often stockpiled ready for a later restoration of the site. But in some cases, the amount of overburden is greater than the quantity needed for rehabilitation and is sold on for reuse. For a few quarries the extent of overburden goes beyond stripping of soil to access the aggregate and is

Finning has announced that it has restructured its management team following expansion of its UK and Ireland businesses. Andy Fraser has moved to become an executive vice president at Finning International in Vancouver and Neil Dickinson succeeds him as Finning (UK) Ltd’s managing director while Gary Agnew will take over Dickenson’s role as director of construction equipment.

Akmel, which is a subsidiary of Germany-based Dyckerhoff, has announced plans to restart construction work on a cement plant in the Orenburg region of Russia. Work on the facility was suspended in 2009 due to the financial crisis. The new €450million plant will have an annual capacity of 2million tonnes per year and is expected to be operational by 2014 when it will serve both the export and domestic markets.

France-based independent quarry operators group Carrières Indépendantes du Grand Ouest (CIGO) has formalised its organisation to become a professional union. The group has said that the move has been made so that they can voice their own ideas on a different number of issues such as company transfers or long-term resources management that was not possible through Unicem. CIGO represents 30 quarry operators based in western France with an annual production of 22million tonnes from 70 quarries.

Sustainability is to be the focus of the US-based National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s (NRMCA) international conference in 2011. The organisation has called for papers to be submitted for the event which is to be held between 9 and 11 August next year in Cambridge, Massachusetts. NRMCA has said that the 6th annual conference will provide learning and networking opportunities on the latest advances, technical knowledge, continuing research, tools and solutions for sustainable concrete manufacturing an