News

India’s road network development programme is facing a series of delays with several major projects now well behind schedule.

Interest is strong in the Polish project being planned to connect Wolin Island and Uznam Island in the north of the country. In all 14 bids were received for the design and build contract during the tender process. The contract should be signed at the end of 2017 and the work is expected to be complete by late 2021. The project has been planned by the Polish roads authority, GDDKiA, and involves the construction of a 3.4km tunnel connection.

Plans are moving forward with regard to the upgrade work to the highway connecting Kenya’s capital Nairobi with the port of Mombasa.

Construction work could commence on Chile’s landmark Chacao Bridge project as early as July 2017. The construction work is being carried out by a consortium called CPC. The new suspension bridge will be 2.6km long and will connect Chiloe Island with the mainland, costing some US$800 million to build. The design allows the structure to cope with massive earthquakes, due to the risk in this region of Chile.

Work is now underway on a major road construction project in the UK using a fleet of brand new Caterpillar earthmoving plant. UK Caterpillar dealer Finning supplied the machines to earthmoving firm Flannery Plant for use on the Norwich bypass project. The fleet includes some of the latest Caterpillar machines such as the new 730C ejector type ADTs and five 50tonne excavators, as well as a number of dozers. The ADTs are equipped with the sophisticated Cat production monitoring (CPM) package, which helps the

The latest data from the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) reveals that traffic congestion is worsening.

South Korea’s new Dongseo Expressway is being opened for public use. The route links the capital, Seoul, with Yangyang and East Hongcheon in Gangwon Province.

Widening and upgrade work for the Autopista Norte motorway in Bogota is commencing in September 2017. The work will be carried out by the Accesos Norte de Bogota (Accenorte) consortium and forms part of Colombia’s 4G road development programme.

Engineering firm Michael Baker International has helped deliver highway improvements for a key link in Arkansas. The upgrade to Highway 70 involves widening and is designed to boost capacity along a 30km stretch of the route.

Paraguay is in the process of sourcing a portion of the necessary funding for its Transchaco road project.

In Guatemala the bidding process for a series of road projects has now been halted. There are concerns over irregularities or mistakes that have arisen during the tendering for the contracts. In all 128 tenders including road maintenance and repair jobs have been stopped. The ruling was made by Guatemala’s road conservation agency, Covial.

Colombia is pushing ahead with its 4G road development programme. Progress is being made with the construction of the Girardot-Honda-Puerto Salgar road connection, which is expected to cost US$518.6 million and is around 37% complete.

A survey of drivers in 13 countries found that UK drivers are least likely to say that they have used a phone while driving. Just over 10,000 drivers in Europe, North America and Asia were questioned in Aviva’s latest Consumer Attitudes Survey.

The Slovak government is exploring options for road financing after 2020, according to the media.

Poland’s road authority GDDKiA is going out to tender for construction of a 16km section of the S3 dual carriageway stretching between Bolkow and Kamienna Gora.