5
NEWS
The team chosen for a 30,000m
2
extension to the
Hospital Hvidovre in Copenhagen, Denmark, will
include international engineering and project
management consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV.
The Hvidovre project is funded by the National
Quality Fund (Statens Kvalitetsfond) and the Capital
Region (Region Hovedstaden) to a total of DKK1.4
billion (€187 million).
The new extension will include an emergency ward,
a paediatrics ward, and obstetrics and cardiology
departments.
The winning design team comprises Schmidt
Hammer Lassen Architects and Aarhus Arkitekterne,
Kragh & Berglund landscape architects, Søren Jensen
consulting engineers, and Royal HaskoningDHV for
structural design and building services.
The next two years will be spent creating a detailed
design for the new hospital. The aim is to hand over
detailed construction plans to contractors in 2016,
with the new building scheduled for completion in
2020.
■
GRINDING
ACQUISITION
Metso has acquired
Santa Ana de Bolueta
(Sabo), a supplier of
grinding media to
the mining industry.
Metso said the deal
was intended to
complement its current
comminution wear
parts offering to its
customers in the sector.
In 2012, Sabo had net
sales of €40 million.
■
POLISH DEAL
Chinese manufacturer
Liugong has acquired
components producer
ZZN Transmission Plant.
Located in Stalowa
Wola, the ZZN factory
is adjacent to Liugong
Poland’s existing
manufacturing facility,
which it established
through the acquisition
of dozer manufacturer
HSW – a deal finalised
in January 2012. ZZN
has been supplying
key parts like axles and
gears for bulldozers,
pipe-layers and loaders
for HSW, which makes
Dressta-branded
equipment.
■
ORDERS UP
Contractor Bouygues’
construction businesses
showed strong growth
in new orders for the
nine months to the end
of September. Order
intake at Bouygues
Construction amounted
to €8.6 billion, taking
the order book to a
record €17.7 billion at
the end of September
2013, 4% higher than at
the end of September
2012. Operating
profit at Bouygues
Construction was up
by €49 million to €309
million in the first nine
months of 2013.
■
EUROPEAN
HEADQUARTERS
Kobelco Construction
Machinery Europe
(KCME) has opened
a new European
headquarters in Almere,
the Netherlands. The
new office is one
element of Kobelco’s
strategy to develop
excavator sales under
its own brand in Europe
following the ending
last December of the
10 year excavator joint
venture with CNH. The
5,300m
2
facility will
serve as Kobelco’s sales
and marketing center,
technical support, and
spare parts distribution
center, covering Europe,
the Middle-East, Africa
and CIS.
■
UK CHANGES
Swiss-based Ammann
is separating the plant
and machine business
of Ammann Equipment
Ltd. It is selling its UK
machine business
to a new company,
AY Equipment, in
a management
buyout, while it is
moving its UK mixing
plant business to an
existing subsidiary,
Ammann UK. Family-
owned Ammann said
it was strengthening
its market position in
the UK and Ireland. The
machine business is
being sold in a share
deal to AY Equipment
retroactively as of 1
October, 2013.
■
STRABAG
CONFIDENT
Austrian contractor
Strabag has reported
EBIT (earnings before
interest and taxes) up to
€40 million for the first
nine months of 2013 – a
huge rise on the same
period 12 months ago
when a figure of €2
million was the result of
a hit by non-recurring
items. Strabag’s output
volume for the first
nine months of 2013
was 5% lower than last
year at €9.6 billion. The
company expects EBIT
to grow to at least €260
million in the 2013
financial year.
BUSINESS NEWS
Construction award
for MEPs introduced
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who are felt to have contributed
effectively to the sustainability of the construction sector can be nominated for an
award.
For the first time, the annual MEP Awards will have a category specifically for the
construction industry, and it is to be sponsored by Construction Products Europe,
which represents construction products manufacturers.
Construction Products Europe said that construction was one of the largest EU
industrial sectors but was still facing hardship, and needed to be encouraged with
a better EU policy framework.
It said that there was currently limited support and prominence for the sector
within EU policy, although MEPs had started to become aware of how important
and beneficial it was for the EU to have a well-supported construction sector.
In 2014, the EU Parliamentary Elections will take place and Construction Products
Europe is sponsoring an award for Sustainable Built Environment at the 2014 MEP
Awards. It said it hoped to mobilise more support for the award from the European
Parliament.
The Awards will be presented in March, and nominations close on 17 Jan. More
information about how to nominate an MEP can be found on the Construction
Products Europe website,
.
ce
New president for Volvo CE
Volvo Construction
Equipment has appointed
Martin Weissburg as its
new president,
The appointment
will be effective from 1
January, 2014.
Currently president
of the Volvo group’s
customer finance
company, Volvo
Financial Services (VFS),
and a member of the
group executive team,
Weissburg will be
replacing Pat Olney, who
held the position since
May 2011.
Olney announced in
October that he would
be stepping down as
president at the end of
this year.
Weissburg has been
president of VFS since
2010, a position which
involved working in
a close relationship
with Volvo CE dealers.
Prior to that he served
as president of Volvo
Financial Services
Americas from 2005 to
2010.
Volvo said it had
begun its search for
a replacement for
Weissburg.
ce
Martin Weissburg will
become president of
Volvo CE, effective 1
January, 2014.
CONSTRUCTION EUROPE
DECEMBER 2013-JANUARY 2014
