Features

By the end of 2018, a shiny new strip of asphalt will skirt around Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, providing a new transport connection.

The International Road Federation (IRF) Geneva, together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union (AU), and the Tanzanian Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication organised a regional seminar called “Fast Tracking Road Safety Initiatives in Africa: An Inescapable Necessity. ” The two-day Regional Road Safety Seminar was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 13 – 14 March 2017. The seminar focussed on ways to accelerate the implementation of actions to address t

Highways England’s project manager gives sneak peek into progress on the UK’s biggest road upgrade now under construction. Road construction workers often find interesting buried items when building roads and the UK’s A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme is proving the point. It’s been less than half a year since construction started on the €1.76 billion A14 scheme, Highways England’s largest ongoing project. Highways England is the wholly government-owned company responsible for modernising, main

Toll operators must offer a level of service for which drivers are prepared to pay because in many cases, drivers have alternative free-use routes. Incentives to attract drivers onto toll roads must include shorter and reliable journey times as well smooth and trouble free travel – all at an affordable price. Private companies running toll roads face the same difficulties as any other commercial entity, in particular financing construction before any toll revenue can be collected. Hardly surprising that fin

Toll operators must offer a level of service for which drivers are prepared to pay because in many cases, drivers have alternative free-use routes. Incentives to attract drivers onto toll roads must include shorter and reliable journey times as well smooth and trouble free travel – all at an affordable price. Private companies running toll roads face the same difficulties as any other commercial entity, in particular financing construction before any toll revenue can be collected. Hardly surprising that fin

Toll operators must offer a level of service for which drivers are prepared to pay because in many cases, drivers have alternative free-use routes. Incentives to attract drivers onto toll roads must include shorter and reliable journey times as well smooth and trouble free travel – all at an affordable price. Private companies running toll roads face the same difficulties as any other commercial entity, in particular financing construction before any toll revenue can be collected. Hardly surprising that fin

A key road rebuild contract has been carried out in Zambia by mining firm First Quantum Minerals (FQM). The firm used its own equipment to rebuild a road that connects with its mining operations in Zambia’s North-Western Province. The firm opted to maintain the Chingola-Solwezi road, which had deteriorated to such a state that North-Western Province faced being cut-off from the rest of the country during the rainy season. This was a serious issue for the mining firm as the poor state of the road threatened

Kenya’s bitumen demand to grow - Shem Oirere writes. Kenya’s demand for bitumen products is set to increase with recent budget allocations for construction of new roads, ports and airports and for maintenance of existing transport infrastructure. The country’s economic growth rose from 5.3% in 2014 to 5.5% in 2015 and is projected to hit 6% and 6.4% in 2016 and 2017 respectively according to the African Development Bank, triggering demand for better and modern infrastructure particularly in the transport se

Technology from Stirling Lloyd is being used to waterproof the recently constructed Lusail Tunnel in Qatar. The construction of the tunnel is a major project as it forms part of a new US$30 billion integrated transportation system in Qatar. The new Lusail CP07-C-1-A Commercial Boulevard, Road A3 Troughs, Underpass and Tunnel project is designed to provide a connection from the recently established Lusail City to the heart of Doha in Qatar. The cut and cover tunnel provides fast access to the new Lusail City

Innovative technology has been used to deliver a smooth concrete road surface on a busy stretch of highway in Nebraska. Much-needed work on a busy section of Interstate 80 has been carried out in Nebraska to improve the road surface. This is one of the most important highways in the US, providing a link that stretches right across the country between the east and west coasts. This busy highway carries a high percentage of heavy truck traffic as it is a vital transport route. However this constant flow of la

In California, in-situ cold recycling with a Wirtgen 3800 CR recycler has proved to be the most economical solution. In the US’s Golden State – California – Wirtgen’s 708kW powerhouse the 3800 CR recycler resurfaced 160km of San José’s main traffic arteries in situ, on-the-spot. The 3800 CR worked with a Vögele VISION 5200-2i tracked paver in a rear-load process. With this method, the 3800 CR travels in reverse, removing the damaged asphalt layers in a down-cut process and transferring the recycled material

Binder selection in cold climates is especially critical for extended pavement life, as Robert Otto Rasmussen, vice president and chief engineer of Transtec Group, explains. The cold climate found in regions such as Canada and the northern regions of the US and Europe poses a particular challenge to engineering a long-lasting, high-quality pavement. Pavements constructed with asphalt in those regions are affected by the asphalt binder’s sensitivity to temperature. Choosing a binder wisely is imperative for

The first Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit (PPRS) took place in Paris in February 2015. This event, with more than 1,000 participants, represented an essential milestone for the road community in Europe and beyond. With its impressive programme, it highlighted the necessity to better preserve and maintain road infrastructure and urban road networks, as fundamental support towards the mobility of people and goods. This event gave public and private stakeholders the opportunity to present a variety

Debate continues to swirl around the use increased recycled asphalt for road surfaces. David Smith, development director at FM Conway urges more cross-sector work to prove the case for a higher recycled asphalt content. The use of recycled materials within our road network is well-established, but a persistent debate continues around the extent to which asphalt can be reused. Although increasing the proportion of recycled asphalt offers significant economic and environmental benefits, there remains a resist