Winter Cycling ~ Wagenbuur on NL Seasons...

Mark Wagenbuur at BicycleDutch writes about how cyclists in the Netherlands deal with snowy, wet winter weather... He also spotlights the general state of infrastructure -- especially maintenance and safety conditions -- and compares summer vs winter cycling on the same pathway...

Ship MRO ~ Repair & Overhaul of the Big Boats!

Mike Schuler at gCaptain spotlights Damen Shiprepair's MRO work on the MSC Magnifica! And here at Blohm+Voss Elbe yard, the Braemar was cut in two and extended by 10m!

Aircraft MRO ~ Aviation Engineering & Upkeep...

Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) services are key to keeping airplanes flying...

A Plane's Journey ~ Lufthansa Technik Aero MRO!

German airplane MRO firm Lufthansa Technik shows how to maintain, repair, and overhaul aircraft!

A Train's Journey ~ NedTrain's Future of MRO!

Dutch rail MRO firm NedTrain shares A Train's Journey showing the emerging future of how locomotives, cars, and equipment are maintained, repaired, and overhauled. Very cool to see the use of tablet PCs, workflow software, and live videochats from the worksites. Plus check out this timelapse train upgrade & modernization video!

Disaster Resilience ~ Qantas A380 Engine Blown

Fascinating documentaries on Qantas A380 engine catastrophe... And here's more about the Airbus A380 aeroplane...

NL Railways MRO ~ Equipment and Processes...

While looking into what key infrastructure is needed in top innovation hubs and vital cities, I came across some compelling examples of Dutch railway maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO). First, Strukton with their Gemma catenary renewal train... And more broadly, a survey of Strukton services... Next, ProRail deals with the challenges of extreme summer weather... ...and extreme winter weather... And here's ProRail's mondo Plesser rail replacer! Finally, here's ProRail's summary activities from 2011...

PM 1000-URM ~ Plasser & Theurer's Track MRO!

Wow, the PM 1000-URM is a truly ginormous track maintenance and repair machine from Austrian firm Plasser & Theurer! Here it's in use on the NS lines by Dutch MRO ProRail!

NedTrain ~ Dutch Rail MRO Keeps Things Rolling!

The Dutch firm NedTrain provides maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for the big NS railco as well as a growing number of other passenger and freight carriers. This is a very important role -- as I've written before, both on infrastructure and various vehicles MRO -- and here we have great examples of rail equipment servicing... Track surface cleaning and upkeep (with infraco ProRail)... And cleaning of the trains (in Dutch but images obvious)... One especially cool thing for railfans and kids of all ages is the NedTrain openhouse!

Making Tracks ~ Railway Maintenance & Repair...

Companies like the Belgian Infrabel maintain & repair railroad trackage using ginormous pieces of equipment! Here's Discovery show on UK's London-Glasgow upgrade by Network Rail, Railtrack, etc (be sure to click thru all 6 segments)... Or here new track laying in KSA... Here UP builds in Nebraska, USA...

Bike Lane Upkeep ~ Proper Maintenance is Key

Cycle Pathster David Hembrow spotlights bike lane maintenance in a recent piece on Autumn leaves... The need for such action is even greater in a snowy winter. I wrote about such civilized cycling support earlier and here you can see, courtesy Copenhagenize, all about bike lane snow clearance! Finally, here Mark Wagenbuur shows cycle path pavement upkeep...

MRO Leaders ~ Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul

Big capital equipment needs world-class MRO -- Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul/Operations -- services. Historically this was something the owner-operator would handle in-house, but increasingly the work is being done by autonomous subsidiaries, spinoffs, and especially outsourced to contract service providers. Here are a few of my favorites. First, NedTrain, the Dutch locomotive and rolling stock maintenance and repair firm... Second, the German Lufthansa Technik, top manufacturer-independent provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft, engines and components... And third, Korean-owned STX Europe's ship repair and conversions yards...