Debt (Details)		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Wachovia [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Osborn [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Osborn [Member] ZAR	Dec. 31, 2011 Osborn [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Astec Australia [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Astec Australia [Member] AUD	Dec. 31, 2011 Astec Australia [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Amount of credit facility		$ 100,000,000	$ 9,108,000	75,000,000		$ 815,000	800,000
Sub-limit for letters of credit		25,000,000
Original term of credit facility		100,000,000
Letters of credit outstanding	17,796,000	12,853,000
Line of credit, additional borrowing capacity		87,147,000
Expiration of amended and restated agreement		5Y
Interest rate description		daily one month LIBOR rate plus a 0.75% margin
Unused facility fee as a percentage of line of credit (in hundredths)		0.175%
Standby letters of credit			4,644,000
Letters of credit from parent securing credit facility			2,000,000			1,600,000
Available credit under the facility			4,464,000
Interest rate (in hundredths)			9.00%	9.00%	9.00%	11.57%	11.57%	12.01%
Unused facility fee (in hundredths)			0.793%	0.793%
Bank guaranty facility						611,000	600,000
Credit facility for financing foreign exchange dealer limit orders						3,821,000	3,750,000
Cash balances used to secure banking arrangements						764,000	750,000
Performance guarantee outstanding amount						$ 299,000
Additional margin added to Australian adjusted bank business rate (in hundredths)	1.05%