INBRIEF

Dealer doe

Ripon based Hydrema (UK) has appointed Ernest Doe as dealer for East England. Areas covered will be Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire. The dealer's 11 regional depots will sell Hydrema's new 910 articulated dump truck, as well as providing parts and back up.

Ammann's new premises

Since its merger with Ammann last year Rammax UK has moved into new premises in Gloucestershire. The one acre site which has a 465m2 workshop is now home to an increasing number of Ammann staff. Reporting an increase in turnover on both the Amman and Rammax product lines the company forecasts further expansion.

Groundhog's new buys

Groundhog - UK hirer of mini cranes - has recently bought two LC605 mini-crawler cranes from Komatsu to fill the gap in its plant hire capability. Both machines have been fitted with Wylie's WW250 safe load indicator. This unit stops the telescopic boom from operating outside pre-set limits.

Lieherr for learning

A 27.5m Lieherr tower crane is being used by contractor Laing Eastern to construct the new œ8.6 million Learning Resources Centre in Hatfield for the University of Hertfordshire. The crane, which has a 61m boom, was last used on the œ330 million Second Severn Crossing project. The three-storey building - due to be completed in Autumn 1997 - will use 200 tonnes of steel and 4300m3 of concrete.

Computer technology

Aimed at giving local authorities and contractors much tighter control over budgets, all future Whale Blazer gritters will have a new computerised touch panel control system with electronics tuned to the vehicle's hydraulics, providing the optional facility for computerised data logging.