Hillhead 2024 was getting underway this morning at the Tarmac Hillhead Quarry near Buxton, Derbyshire, England.
Given it takes place in a quarry in Buxton, England, Hillhead, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary, can bring real job site applications to life like no other event.
From June 25–27, more than 20,000 expected visitors will witness an autonomous truck in action for the first time as part of the show’s biggest range of demonstrations. The exhibition will blend digitally connected sites and technologies with the sector’s ongoing alternative fuel transformation.
“When we open the show this year, visitors will be met by 600 exhibitors in a sell-out event,” said Richard Bradbury, managing director of the event’s organiser, QMJ Group. “Demand from exhibitors has been unprecedented, and we have already blasted a huge amount of material, creating a demonstration experience that will be our biggest yet. It will incorporate a squared-off quarry face area with two large elevated levels, making more demonstrations possible throughout the day.”
Demonstrations will include a full range of combined equipment displays with excavators, wheeled loaders, ADTs, crushers, screeners and much more. Big display highlights will be a 100tonne excavator from Hyundai and the all-electric stand of Volvo Equipment with dealer SMT GB. Hitachi will be showcasing both machines and their fully connected site solutions.
“For this show, we have also recognised the continued importance of showing visitors how our industry is progressing,” said Bradbury. “For example, our autonomous truck demo with Bell Equipment will be a real eye-opener this year. We are also a showcase for a lot of electric-powered machines this year, some of which will feature in our live demonstrations for the first time.”
From telemetry solutions to machine control, drones, AI-driven safety and the latest advanced 3D site management and modelling, the connected site will really come alive this year. “Thanks to our continued investment in the Wi-Fi connectivity onsite, we will have live data feeds even from our demonstrations onsite,” he said.
Visitors will also notice a big change in the Hillhead event’s layout, especially the extended indoor pavilion – more than 30% larger. “This year, we are also creating the Big Hillhead Cafe and food court as an outdoor hub for visitors and exhibitors alike. This will be supported by more permanent welfare facilities, and we will also have new water hydration stations around the site with cold, filtered water available for free,” said Bradbury. “And for those big-picture social media moments, our enlarged viewing platform will definitely give visitors that selfie opportunity.”
