Powered by
The board of the European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved €5.8bn of new financing for 29 projects in the European Union (EU), Africa and Latin America.
L&T Construction, the construction unit of Larsen & Toubro, has won orders worth INR14.54bn ($228.86m) across various business segments.
Italian infrastructure group Salini Impregilo has won four contracts worth $490m in Oman, Abu Dhabi and the US in the water and transportation sectors.
The Astaldi Group of Italy has signed three construction contracts worth €400m for projects in Chile, Poland, and Honduras.
The pace of expansion in the global construction industry will improve in the next five years, with growth averaging 2.8%, according to a new report from Timetric's Construction Intelligence Center (CIC).
Confidence levels among construction industry executives continued to rise in the first quarter of 2017, according to the latest update of Timetric’s Construction Confidence Survey.
Asia-Pacific has the highest share of global port construction projects with a total of $165.1bn, according to a new report.
The global infrastructure market is set to grow by 6.0% a year until 2020, according to a new report.
The global construction industry risk levels have risen for the fifth consecutive quarter, according to Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Center (CIC).
Confidence levels among construction industry executives have risen in the last quarter of 2016, according to a new survey.
London is at the top of a list of ‘construction mega cities’ with total project values close to $426bn, according to a new report.
The European Association for Abnormal Road Transport and Mobile Cranes (ESTA) is launching a new conference early next year to address growing concerns about safety during the transportation and erection of on-shore wind turbines.
Wacker Neuson has introduced the ET16 mini tracked excavator, designed particularly for excavation work in confined spaces.
John Deere has launched its 470G LC excavator, featuring an EPA Final Tier 4/EU Stage IV diesel engine.
The International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA) has honoured eight projects and individuals from the tunnelling industry at its annual ITA Tunnelling Awards.
Mexican-based Cemex has officially launched a new range of lightweight foamed concrete at the UK Construction Week in Birmingham, UK.
The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) has laid down the design principles to create earthquake-resistant cranes. The new ISO 11031 can be used to calculate seismic loads, and sets out the design principles for cranes destined to work in seismically-active regions and for cranes required to be seismically-resistant.Klaus Pokorny, secretary of the ISO subcommittee working on design principles and requirements for cranes, said: “To make sure that cranes are safe, we first need to calculate the seismic loads that show how a crane will respond in moderate to severe earthquakes. Then you can use design limit states provided in two forms: serviceability limit and ultimate limit. “The serviceability limit state (SLS) ensures that the crane can withstand the effects of moderate earthquake ground motions throughout its service lifetime and continue to operate as intended. The ultimate limit state (ULS) requires that the crane structure should not collapse during severe earthquake ground motions, and that the suspended load or any other part of the crane should not fall or harm the public, operators and workers.” Pokorny added: “Any evaluation should take into account the regional seismic conditions as well as the ground surface conditions at the crane location. It’s also important to consider how the crane will be used and any risks that could result from seismic damage.“Not only will ISO 11031 add a layer of confidence to the industry, it also provides a common technical language so that manufacturers, users and owners understand each other clearly, no matter where they are — a boost for global trade.” The need of a standard to ensure seismic-resistant cranes was first highlighted by Japan, after the 1995 earthquake in Kobe.
John Deere has entered into a partnership with HCSS to enhance its construction machinery data communication and analysis system WorkSight.The partnership will also focus on the incorporation of Deere’s JDLink machine monitoring system into HCSS’s software.The partnership was one of the results of the Association of Equipment Management Professionals (AEMP) working with major machine manufacturers to standardise the telematics data available for integration into other applications, known as the Application Programming Interface (API).Liz Quinn, John Deere WorkSight product marketing manager, said: “Our partnership with HCSS empowers customers to leverage the existing telematics connection on their John Deere equipment and see their JDLink machine data in the powerful HCSS tool suite in conjunction with other telematic brands. “In addition, customers will be able to easily link from the HCSS application to the MyJohnDeere.com environment when they need to order parts, manuals, or have a closer look at a John Deere machine in the JDLink Dashboard. Seeing all brands of telematics data in one application optimizes a customer’s fleet management decisions and eliminates manual data entry and jumping from one manufacturer’s portal to the next.”Matthew DiTarando, John Deere customer and IT manager at Comanco Environmental Corporation, said: “We look forward to utilizing the open JDLink Machine Data API and integrating that vital telematics data into our HCSS products. Combining these two into one cohesive system will enable us to thrust our fleet department forward into a future of advanced planning of scheduled maintenance utilizing real-time telematics.”HCSS has been testing the JDLink Machine Data API, which is scheduled to launch later this year.WorkSight incorporates five technologies: the JDLink Telematics, Machine Health Prognostics, Remote Diagnostics and ProgrammingPayload Weighing and Grade Control.
The European and Indian construction machinery markets have shown growth this year, while other regions have seen a slow-down, according to Germany’s engineering association the VDMA.Latest research from the Construction Equipment and Building Material Machinery arm of the VDMA suggests that the machinery sector has grown in regions including France, Germany and India. The Middle East and North America, on the other hand, have registered drops in machinery sales, in addition to the weak markets of Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia. After five years of recession, China still hasn’t recovered from a loss of an accumulated 80% of its volume, says the report.The research also anticipates a drop in the global construction machinery sales due to regional developments, even though German manufacturers are set to register a slight turnover increase of 3%.Johann Sailer, VDMA chairman, said: “This is primarily due to the strong European market.”However, growth might not be equal for all manufacturers, added Sailer: “Depending on where a company’s focuses lie individual results could still be on the negative side.”Building material machinery updateThe report from the VDMA also examines the building material plant and machinery business.The sector is subject to less instability than the construction machinery sector. Nevertheless, manufacturers depend on long-term stable growth markets and these are deficient at the moment — due to the Russian market breakdown. Only Central Europe, India and North America are rated as satisfactory.Overcapacities also present a challenge for manufacturers. When it comes to this, the sector automatically thinks about China, says the association.“We don’t expect suppliers from China to flood the market with their equipment but the trend is clear – when domestic markets are weak companies shift to export markets,” said Sailer.In addition, political and economic uncertainties are present in many sectors. “We don’t want to just keep talking about crises and many current issues do not even have a direct impact on the construction sector. But obviously, news of this kind always affect the investment climate among our customers,” said Sailer.Overall, the VDMA concluded that “the construction equipment and building material machinery industry is indeed a growth sector”.
Australia-based company Fastbrick Robotics has developed a giant truck-mounted robot that can construct an entire house in two days. Hadrian X can lay up 1,000 bricks an hour using a 28ft arm. The robot uses 3D scans to work out where to lay down the bricks, which are fed to the machine’s conveyor, then passed along the arm into a laser-guided claw. The claw grabs and lays them down using construction glue instead of cement.The smart machine cuts bricks to size and leaves spaces between them for wiring and plumbing.Fastbrick Robotics’ founder Mark Pivac told Perth Now: "People have been laying bricks for about 6,000 years and ever since the industrial revolution, they have tried to automate the bricklaying process."We're at a technological nexus where a few different technologies have got to the level where it's now possible to do it, and that's what we've done."It is estimated that the robot can build between 100-300 houses a year — without needing tea breaks, holidays or weekends off.Hadrian X took ten years to be developed and $4.5M in research and development. According to Fastbrick Robotics, it will take about a year before the machine will be launched onto the market.
With 11 websites and newsletters covering all the key areas within the construction industry, World Construction Industry Network is the leading global construction information resource. READ ABOUT US
PRIVACY POLICY
World Construction Network | www.worldconstructionnetwork.com is a product of GlobalData. Copyright © 2020 GlobalData. All rights reserved. 
