international
construction
may 2014
CONCRETE
38
Early involvement
another to remove it again. In the demolition sector, too,
manufacturers have been working to boost the efficiency of
their tools. Aquajet Systems, for instance, has introduced a
new hydrodemolition tool – the Rotolance 2500 – which it
says offers faster concrete surface preparation than other, more
traditional methods of concrete removal.
Designed for shallow concrete removal, the Rotolance 2500
uses ultra-high pressure water jets to remove layers of concrete.
It features a 350mmworking diameter and can be guided and
monitored by an on-board control system.
A new Curb Fox 2000 at work in Algiers, Algeria, for
contractor ETS Farouk Bouzouaoui Constructions. Supporting
large street renovation projects, themachine paves an
average of 500m per day of 300mm high curbwith a five
man crew. FBC has various jobswith a total of 30,000m of
curb to complete in the Algiersmetropolitan area.
AMekamobile concretemixing plant with a 135m
3
/h
capacitywas supplied to Heidelberg Beton Georgia to
support construction of the Ruisi-Agara Bypass section
of the E-60 highway in Georgia. The plant consists of the
aggregate bin and themain chassis, with concretemixer,
weighing hoppers and transfer belt.
Seen and heard at World of Concrete
Confidencewas in the air at this year’s Las Vegas concrete event
A
snap-shot of the commentary from senior figures at this year’sWorld of Concrete
exhibition, which took place from 21 January to 24 January in Las Vegas, US, and
attracted 48,000 attendees and 1,250 exhibitors.
In addition tobeing faster than conventionalmanualmethods
of concrete preparation and removal, Aquajet also said the tool
could lead to labour cost savings and help prevent operator
injuries caused by vibrating hand-held, manually operated
alternatives.Dust pollution is also said tobe virtually eliminated
with hydrodemolition.
The concrete sector’smanufacturers have continued to support
activities on construction projects around the world, coming
up with tailor-made solutions to unique sets of problems.
With such a diverse set of applications, it seems certain that
the industrywill continue to innovate as new challenges present
themselves with eachnew infrastructure project.
iC
SchwingAmericaCEOBrianHazelton said,
“I think 2014will be the first full year of a
recovery, we are seeing customers really
looking at fleet renewal and getting new
equipment on the job. From an industry
standpoint, I thinkwewill see quantities
doubling from last year.” He said the
manufacturer was in discussionswith its
majority owner, XCMG, about increasing
production for 2014.
Phoenix CurbMachines president Stu
Johnson said the company had plans to
expand during the next 12months. “This
year is our third year in business and
we expect it to be better than 2013. I
think saleswill hit between US$ 4million
and US$ 5million this year, so a+25%
increase. We are also in discussionswith
a company regarding creating a dealership
network.”
Putzmeister America president Dave
Adams said, “The USmarket is growing
dramatically right now – the rebound
from the crisis is really taking hold. This
year we expect to see a+50% increase
in sales in North America, but this is from
a low level. We expect to sell around 300
concrete pumps in 2014.”
Rory Keogh,managing director of GOMACO
International, highlighted a looming issue
for the reboundingmarket. “In our industry
in Europe and theUS there is a shortage
of skilled people on construction sites.
Technology is helping– by taking a lot of
manual functions away, we are improving
quality and speeding up operations.
Technology is becomingmore andmore
important to the industry.”
