25
december 2013
international
construction
CONCRETE
A healthy market
New technology is coming
to the concrete sector at
the same time that robust
global demand for
cement is forecast.
Helen Wright
reports.
A healthy market
>
G
lobal demand for cement, the binder in concrete, is
forecast to reach 4.7 billion tonnes in 2017, with sales
expected to expand by more than +5% a year over the
next four years, according to research company Freedonia.
While this represents a slight decline in pace from the 2007
to 2012 period, altogether, Freedonia’s figures constitute a fairly
robust outlook for this key construction material.
At the same time there is a drive among the concrete
construction sector’s equipment manufacturers to produce more
versatile and efficient equipment, fuelled by the ever-present
need for contractors to improve productivity.
New technology is playing a big role in the latest developments.
Telematics systems that allow machines to be monitored remotely
are spreading to every corner of the construction industry,
for instance, often aiming to help to improve efficiency and
performance of equipment.
Paving
Indeed, Guntert & Zimmerman (G&Z) has introduced a
remote monitoring and diagnostics system in the concrete paving
market – its new Equipment Guidance and Operation Network
(EGON). This a modular network of controllers, on-board
and remote monitoring and diagnostic options. It allows G&Z
Doka provided formwork based on
its SK175 Cooling Tower range for
the construction of a 164 m high
cooling tower for the coal-fired
power station Sostanj in Slovenia.
Guntert & Zimmerman
has introduced aremote
monitoring and
diagnostics system for
concrete pavers – EGON.
