CA Blackwell (Contracts) has more than 160 earthmoving machines and tipper lorries operating on the earthworks subcontract on sections four and five for the A14 Integrated Delivery Team (IDT), a joint venture of Costain, Skanska, Balfour Beatty and designers Atkins/CH2M. This includes 72 articulated trucks and a range of excavators, graders and dozers.

Among Blackwell’s plant on the job is a fleet of 24 new Volvo machines, supplied by dealer SMT GB. It has 20 A45G articulated haulers on the A14 as well as two 75-tonne EC750E crawler excavators, a 48-tonne EC480E and an EC300E.

It is the biggest machine in the Korean manufacturer’s wheeled loader series, at 36 tonnes. It has a similar look to the previous range-topping 32-tonne DL550-5 model and is basically the same size but has more robust structural components and an advanced double circuit axle cooling system to tackle for heavier work such block lifting in quarries and mines, as well as heavy-duty applications in industrial, construction and recycling operations.

The front structure has been made more rugged, with greater rigidity and strength. It has reinforced Z-bar kinematics for heavier lifting with few moving parts. This design also helps stabilise the loader, enables rapid bucket movements and keeps the bucket at the right angle position at all times. 

Lincoln-based ART Demolition has bought a JCB 220X for dismantling duties on its projects across the Midlands. Supplied by dealer TC Harrison JCB, the machine has been specially configured for the demolition work with the addition of cab protection and heavy undercarriage guards. The modifications were made by Newark-based MCB Brothers.

Art Demolition was incorporated by John Thurlby in 2013, although its roots date back to 1960. With John in his 70s, son Adam Thurlby took over as managing director in 2015. Adam’s brother Nick also works in the family business.  As well as its excavator models, the company also operates JCB wheeled loading shovels, telehandlers, excavators, tracked and wheeled skid steers. The range of equipment is completed with a DustBoss suppression unit, static and mobile welfare units, low loader and bulker trailers, forklifts and dump trucks.

A year ago, Iveco introduced the Stralis X-WAY, heralded as ‘the lightest in the construction sector’. The manufacturer did not pull its punches: X-WAY ‘raises the stakes in light off-road missions with the highest payload in its segment’ and ‘combines the best of Iveco’s fuel efficiency and safety technologies with the brand’s most robust chassis design’, it said.

Iveco’s usual 8x4 offering, theTrakker, was well-equipped for the heavy-duty work but it was too heavy for the part of the construction market where the emphasis is bulk transportation and payload.  Like all heavy trucks there is a lighter truck waiting to get out, so a redesign to shed 750kg has seen the X-WAY emerge from the shadow of the Trakker.