World of Asphalt wins in Orlando

This year's World of Asphalt show has been deemed a great success by organisers with over 5700 attendees and 400 exhibitors. Steve Skinner reports from the show.

The show opened on Tuesday at the Orange County Convention Centre in Orlando, US, and after the first two days Rick Moore, show chairman felt confident to describe this year's event as a "great World of Asphalt, with excellent opportunities for people to learn from the seminars."

"Some 16% of visitors have been international," said Mr Moore, "and combining the World of Asphalt with the Aggregates Forum and Expo has worked as a perfect partnership, which we'll repeat in 2010."

Eric Hutchinson of Terex Road Building said, "The attendance has been great and although we scaled down our stand this year, traffic and interest has been up."

Likewise, Rick Costello of Caterpillar said, "We are really encouraged that numbers are up. The paving contractors seem pretty upbeat about the Obama stimulus package and there's a positive mood swing. We've also noticed that the seminars and training sessions have been exceptionally busy and well attended, so people are spending money for the future, which is extremely positive."

Leeboy's Jack Pingle also praised this year's show, "Considering the environment, the attendance has given us real hope. The visitors have been quality people and our international business has been well represented. I'd even say that domestic interest has been above our expectations, so we're very happy and pleased with our participation."