World Construction Week - 27 August 2008

Construction News

Cemex to seek arbitration over Venezuelan assets

Cemex says it will submit a complaint to the World Bank's Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes following the Venezuelan Government's seizure of its assets in the country. The company says the move viiolated both national and international law.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-construction/detail/item26993/

Jakarta Embassy designs unveiled

Architect HOK has released the first images of its design for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office's new British Embassy building in Jakarta, Indonesia. The 3800 m² scheme, due for completion in 2011, is designed over three levels and is located on a 1.5 hectare site in central Jakarta.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-construction/detail/item27005/

Komatsu dozer scoops silver in US IDEA awards

Komatsu's D51 EX/PX-22 medium-sized dozer has won the silver award in the US International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2008.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-construction/detail/item26989/

FCC moves into wind power

Spanish construction and utilities group FCC has agreed to acquire the Spanish wind power assets of Australian investment company Babcock & Brown for a total of € 780 million.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/construction-europe/detail/item26996/

Production starts at new JCB excavator factory

JCB has begun to shift UK production of its excavator range to a new UK£ 40 million (€ 50 million) factory.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-construction/detail/item27009/

CRH reports profit fall in first half

CRH recorded 2008 first half sales of € 9,7 billion, almost mirroring the same period of last year. However, with higher commodity prices and a weak dollar to euro exchange rate, the company reported a pre-tax profit of € 606 million, down -10% on the comparable 2007 period.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/construction-europe/detail/item27029/

Doosan to acquire Moxy

Doosan Infracore has acquired Norwegian articulated dump truck (ADT) manufacturer Moxy for € 55 million through its European subsidiary DIEU. The company says it wants to increase Moxy's sales fivefold by 2012, from last year's € 54 million to € 250 million.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-construction/detail/item27028/

Crane and Transport News

Nine more Hiabs for Gatwick

Gatwick Group in the UK has ordered nine Hiab knuckle boom cranes to add to its fleet bringing the total to 16

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-cranes-and-specialized-transport/detail/item27061/

Tiong Woon posts record profits

Tiong Woon Corporation Holding Ltd (TWC) announced a record net profit after tax and minority interest of S$28million (US$19.7 million) for the full year ending 30 June 2008. This represented an increase of 24% over the S$22.5 million ($15.9 million) it made in the same period the previous year

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-cranes-and-specialized-transport/detail/item27065/

AEM product support seminar

AEM to host product support seminar in October. "Teaming Up to Serve" is the theme of the 2008 product support seminar offered by the US's Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).

http://www.khl.com/magazines/american-cranes-and-transport/detail/item27051/

Bigge orders a dozen Liebherr crawlers

Bigge Crane & Rigging has ordered 12 new crawlers for delivery in 2009, to add to its 25 Liebherr LR series crawler cranes

http://www.khl.com/magazines/american-cranes-and-transport/detail/item27049/

Modulift expands distribution

Modulift has appointed Cableco-American Rigging in the US as distributor on the West Coast for its Modulift Spreader beams. The company will offer fast delivery times and direct local contacts for all aspects of below-the-hook rigging, the company said.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/american-cranes-and-transport/detail/item27052/

Extreme crane sports

A base jumping group has used a fully rigged 200 tonne capacity all terrain crane to carry out a series of daring leaps

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-cranes-and-specialized-transport/detail/item27054/

Terex turbine erector heads to Ireland

Wm. O'Brien Plant Hire in Ireland has purchased an 800 tonne capacity Terex AC 800 wheeled mobile crane which will mainly be used for erecting wind turbines

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-cranes-and-specialized-transport/detail/item27058/

Rental News

Atlas Copco rebrands specialty rental operations

Atlas Copco’s Specialty Rental division has rebranded all its rental operations to include the Atlas Copco name. The businesses were previously operated under their original brands.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-rental-news/detail/item27000/

Remote Dynamics adds global satellite tracking

US asset tracking company Remote Dynamics has introduced a global satellite tracking capability for its Rediview construction fleet tracking software.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-rental-news/detail/item27017/

Brazil's Solaris creates earthmoving rental division

Brazilian rental company Solaris Equipamentos e Serviços LTDA (Solaris) aims to capitalize on growth in Brazil’s infrastructure and construction markets by creating an earthmoving equipment rental division to add to the aerial platform, telehandler and power rental operations it already has.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-rental-news/detail/item27019/

Kneeland confirmed as CEO at United Rentals

United Rentals has appointed Michael Kneeland as president and chief executive officer. Mr Kneeland, who was unanimously selected by United’s board, has been interim CEO since June 2007.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-rental-news/detail/item27031/

Andrews Sykes pursues growth through continued specialisation

Specialist rental company Andrews Sykes Hire Ltd in the UK continues to broaden and diversify its rental offerings away from pumps and air conditioning. Paul Wood, managing director for the past three years, told IRN that the company is "moving towards more specialist products, to bigger chillers, boilers, and specialist pumps."

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-rental-news/detail/item27044/

Cramo signs Danish outsourcing deal

Cramo has signed an equipment outsourcing deal with regional Danish engineering contractor MSE A/S. Cramo will acquire MSE’s machine fleet and becomes MSE’s main rental supplier for the next five years.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-rental-news/detail/item27036/

Cat launches three rubber tracked loaders

Caterpillar has added three compact rubber tracked loaders to its loader range. The 279C (pictured), 289C and 299C models use a newly designed suspension-type undercarriage combined with the existing chassis found on the multi-terrain 277C, 287C and 297C loaders. Caterpillar said the new loaders complement the very low ground pressure multi terrain models.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-rental-news/detail/item27034/

Access and Telehandler News

Ruthmann to show new T275 at APEX show

Germany’s Ruthmann will use the APEX exhibition in September for the official debut of its new STEIGER T 275, an extended version of the T 270 model, which has been on sale since 2003.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/access-international/detail/item27015/

Indian access renters close to merger

Recently formed Indian access rental company OnRent Pvt Ltd is close to a merger with the access rental division of Madras Tools and Tackles Ltd (mtandt). Both companies are based in Chennai in southern India.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/access-international/detail/item27020/

Tanfield subsidiary Snorkel lays off 125 in US

Tanfield Group’s US subsidiary Snorkel International is to lay off 125 workers at its plant in Elwood, Kansas. The lay-offs follow Tanfield’s announcement in early July of redundancies at its UK UpRight Powered Access and Smith Electric Vehicles (SEV) businesses.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/access-international/detail/item27008/

Europe to get new standard on transport platforms

The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) is drafting a new standard for transport platforms in Europe. Its Transport Platform Working Group (TPWG) of the International Mast Climbing Work Platform Committee has elected a task force to lead the effort.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/access-international/detail/item27018/

Palfinger to present at Europlatform conference

Christoph Schneiderbauer, managing director of Palfinger Europe, is the latest speaker to be confirmed for the Europlatform conference in Maastricht, The Netherlands, on 16 September, the day before the APEX exhibition.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/access-international/detail/item27037/

Genie's Roger Brown on the AWP slowdown

Roger Brown of Genie Industries, one of the company’s founders, said it was still too early to tell how severe and long the current downturn in the AWP market would be, but said the industry – and Genie – was better prepared for a slowdown than in the past.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/access-international/detail/item27042/

Demolition News

Crushing guidance

The UK’s National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) has issued a new guidance document to all its members concerning the use of mobile crushing plant in the demolition role.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/demolition-and-recycling-international/detail/item27041/

Roofing panels - the new asbestos?

Demolition contractors working in the more than 150 countries that are signatories to the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer will have to develop methods of processing the composite roofing panels common on larger industrial structures built from the 1960s onwards.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/demolition-and-recycling-international/detail/item27053/