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France-based cement producer Ciments Calcia has announced that it is to use biodegradble bags for all of its products by the end of the year.

Stelex Construction Equipment of Whitchurch, County Shropshire, UK, which manufactures heavy duty trommel screens, recently shipped two of its HT182 Hercules models to two customers in southern Africa to improve the efficiency of their cement production.

Reducing whole life costs is the aim of Caterpillar's latest rigid dump truck option for quarry operators. The company is to unveil a new quarry truck body on its stand at Bauma, which removes the need for liners and is said to help optimise hauling operations.

From 20 to 25 April this year, the world's construction equipment producers will descend on Paris to show their NEW innovations at Intermat 2009. Claire Symes reports on news of the latest launches for the aggregates sector. While the current economic climate means that the quarrying sector is not as buoyant as the industry would like, this year's Intermat exhibition is still expected to attract over 200,000 visitors. With more than 1300 exhibitors filling over 180,000m2 of exhibition space at Paris-Nord Vi

Sandvik's SC Screen offers circular motion screening on an inclined deck, and its modular design is aimed to allow it to be used in a variety of classifying applications without the need for costly modifications. A number of different types of media can be used and changed as often as required. The screen also features apertures for water spraying, so that the customer can install washing equipment.

Valérie Philip is Cemex France's first female quarry manager. Paul Howard finds out how she became such a trailblazer. There are some professions that are historically associated with women - nursing, for example, or primary school teaching. Equally, there are some areas of the working world that have remained obstinately male oriented and the physically demanding industry of quarrying is one of the most intransigent.

BedRock Software's AggFlowSite is described by the company as the next evolution in plant simulation and optimisation for the global aggregate industry. AggFlowSite delivers the full functionality of the company's traditional AggFlow program to users via the internet, but is specifically intended for unlimited users simulating one aggregate site.

Modern surveying techniques mean that quarry operators can collect more usable information in less time than ever before. Surveying a quarry used to mean calling in a specialist company several times a year to trek round on foot with a tripod and manually collecting data before taking it back to the office to process. Today it is possible for a quarry manager to collect a greater level of information on an almost daily basis in a format that can be more easily used than ever before.

Scotland’s aggregate producers have just completed a series of training events for planning authorities across the region in a bid to increase understanding of the quarrying sector. The events were organised after Mineral Products Association (Scotland) executive director John Sheridan and the Scottish Government’s chief planner Jim Mackinnon agreed that the lack of minerals knowledge in the planning profession could be overcome by the industry taking action to address the problem.

Overburden can be useful when it comes to landscaping areas around the quarry but what can be done when supply outweighs that demand. Very few quarries are fortunate enough to have no overburden to strip to access aggregate reserve and most have to factor in the cost of stripping and storing material. But the cost of this process can be more than financial - some quarries have an excess of 'waste' material stockpiled that is blocking access to prime aggregates. Many quarries utilise overburden for environme

Controlling dust is becoming increasingly important for quarry operators but they are helped by the wide range of solutions available says Lisa Russell. There are many opportunities for disturbed material to take to the air in the quarrying process while it is being blasted, crushed, screened, transported and stored.

The search for alternative power sources for construction equipment is nothing new. Mike Woof takes a look at Euclid's attempt at using gas turbines. The off-highway equipment sector has seen many interesting and innovative machines over the years, with some seeing meteoric rises in sales and others sinking into obscurity without trace. One of the oddest heavy haulers of all time had to be Euclid's R210 truck, and it certainly falls into the latter category.

Eurocement is reporting to be planning to sell off 20% of its business through an IPO to be launched in London in late 2011 or early 2012. The company is estimated to be worth €3.5billion.

A recent Supreme Court case in the UK about mineral trespass raises some interesting issues for the aggregates industry. Mark Richardson reports. July this year saw the resolution in the UK Supreme Court of a case involving a landowner, Bocardo, and an oil company, Star Energy, which sets new precedents with regards to mineral ownership and compensation.

Lafarge has continued its sale of non-core assets with announcement of the disposal of concrete and cement operations in the south east of the US.

With the need to recycle high on the agenda, finding effective techniques to reuse concrete demolition waste has never been more important. Concrete is the second most consumed material after water, according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and not without good reason. The council underlines concrete's properties that make it a long-lasting, energy efficient building material but has said that through regeneration, strategies for reuse are needed.

Surveying specialist Trimble has launched a new version of its remote asset management tool, which adds offers polygon site management and enhanced support for Computer Aided Design (CAD) map overlays with imagery provided by Google Maps. Version 2.5 of Construction Manager uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, wireless communication and the internet supplies quantitative information to analyse and improve asset productivity and overall construction operations, saving time and eliminating unneces

FCC is reported to looking at divesting parts of its business and is currently reviewing the possibility of splitting its cement subsidiary Cementos Portland Valderrivas.

Rock drilling tool specialist Rockmore International has announced plans to develop a new manufacturing facility in Europe. The US-based company plans to build a 7,500m2 new plant at a new industrial park in Judenburg, Austria to serve the European market, as well as the emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East. "Despite the current economic climate, we felt this expansion in our production capability was vital," said Rockmore executive vice president Pejman Eghdami. "This new facility demonstrates our

The sixth meeting of the Atlantic Alliance in Brussels in October is aiming to bring together health and safety specialists and best practice from around the world. Health & Safety is a top priority for the European Aggregates Association (UEPG) which is why the organisation is playing a key role in an upcoming global safety conference. On 20 and 21 October this year Brussels will be hosting the sixth Atlantic Alliance meeting and bring together top extractive industry health and safety specialists from aro