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FAST TRACK TO THE OLYMPICS
Page 64
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Iveco invited a cross-section of tipper users to Italy for a look at the latest Trakker. Dan Giikes tagged along for the drive, and to see how tipper users and suppliers are gearing up for the London Olympics.
The news that London will host the Olympic Games in 2012 has given a massive boost to an already healthy UK construction industry. Nine new venues will be bui lt, including an 80.000-seat stadium, an aquatics centre, a hockey centre, a velodrome (cycle track) and of course the Olympic Village itself, which will house competitors and officials during the Games.
For hauliers around East London, and further afield for that matter, it all promises a heavy workload over the coming decade. And it will be a full decade, as there's going to be a great deal of work after the Games too, moving sports stadia around the country and redeveloping much of the Olympic site.
Tippers and mixers will be much in demand for both demolition and construction work. It's already getting under way: the first contracts are being signed, the excavators are moving in and the muck will soon start to fly.
This potential boom in the construction market has not gone unnoticed by truck manufacturers, who are all taking a growing interest in tipper and mixer chassis. Merc's latest lightweight Axor tippers are trying to break the stranglehold that DallScania and Volvo have on the sector.
Iveco is also bidding for a slice of the action by cutting the weight on its latest Trakker eightlegger to get to the nine-tonne benchmark. To prove their worth, the Italian firm recently invited 75 UK tipper and mixer operators to the marble quarries of Carrara.
We took the opportunity to ask some of those end users what they think will happen in the market, and to compare their opinions with those of Iveco's head of product in the medium and heavy sectors. •