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A tunnel is to be built between the Belgrade city areas of Savska and Dunavska Padina at a cost between €100-130 million, according to the mayor. Project design was done Ces Cowi which was awarded a tender worth nearly €198,000 by the Directorate for Construction Land. The 9.6m-wide tunnel will be nearly 2km long and lay around 38m below ground. Work, however, is not expected to start until the end of 2018 and take around 30 months. Meanwhile, work on the 470m Zezeljev Bridge across the Danube River in Novi

Construction of a motorway from Oslo to the western coastal suburb town of Bærum moved a step closer after it gained more political support. The Norwegian Liberal Party – Venstre - and the Christian Democratic Party – KrF – said in Parliament that they back the idea, according to media reports. A final plan for the motorway – which could cost around €1.41 billion - could be approved by this autumn with construction to start in 2019. Work might take around five years. Oslo and the wealthy town of Bærum are a

A finance package from the World Bank of US$600 million will help pay for a series of development projects in Zambia. The three year development programme will help boost Zambia’s transport network and the funding has been made available via the World Bank's International Development Association. This package includes the $200 million budget for rural road development, intended to connect Zambia’s most remote areas to the transport network.

The TRA is calling for applicants for its dual transport innovation competition. The TRA Visions 2018 competition invites young and senior researchers from all over Europe to submit innovative transport concepts to www.travisions.eu. The two European-funded TRA Visions 2018 competitions, one for young researchers and the second for senior researchers, are now open to applicants. Young and senior researchers throughout Europe are invited to submit innovative concepts on future transport matters to develop ef

Plans are in hand for the construction of two new bridges in South Africa, which are expected to cost around US$113.4 million. These new structures will form part of the N2 Wild Coast Toll Road (N2WCTR) project. Construction is expected to commence in the period from August-October 2017. The bridge projects are being managed by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL), which is handling the tender process. The bidders include several joint ventures that comprise both South African and international

A new plan will help boost road safety in Europe, with the rules governing cars and trucks being revised. The move comes following pressure from campaigning groups pushing vehicle manufacturers to equip their products with new safety systems. This move is intended to boost overall vehicle safety and cut casualties and road deaths across the EU. The draft policy document for the move has outlined a series of initiatives to be adopted this year. This will includes changes to the current vehicle safety regulat

A budget of US$309.4 million has been set for development work in Kuwait. This will be used upgrade roads as well as other key infrastructure in South Surra. Road construction and maintenance will be carried out close to the Sheikh Jaber Hospital. The work will also include improvements to a number of overpasses as well as intersections on the Al Nuwaisib road. In all 43km of roads will be built or improved while nine new multi-level intersections will be built.

Guatemala is planning to build a new bridge that will cost an estimated US$150 million. The plans call for the new Belice Bridge to be constructed alongside the existing structure. A portion of the funding would be provided in the form of a loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). A design study could be carried out towards the end of 2018. Repairs are required to the existing BeliCe Bridge however and little interest has been received so far in the tender process for this work.

The tender process is being planned for a new highway project in Argentina. The country’s Federal Government is preparing the bidding process for section one of the Route 33 highway, between Rufino and the San Eduardo access road. The construction work is expected to require two years to complete while the project’s estimated budget is US$231.6 million. The bidding process is opening for tenders on 6th July 2017.

Poland will have to spend around €7.12 billion to complete its section of the trans-European Via Carpathia. Work on the north-south transport corridor could be completed by 2025, the government said during a recent European Economic Congress held in the Polish city of Katowice. The route is planned to run nearly 1,600km from the Lithuanian Baltic Sea port city of Klaipeda to the Greek city of Thessaloniki on the Aegean Sea. It passes through Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. It will cross cor

Austrian firm Geiger International now looks set to commence work on Zimbabwe’s massive highway project. The new highway will run from its border with Zambia in the north of the country to its border with South Africa in the south of Zimbabwe. The Austrian contractor has received funding worth US$998 million from the Zimbabwe Government for the project. The work calls for the construction of twin lanes in either direction from Chirundu in Zambia to Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, as well as from Harare to Beitbr

A section of road in the US state of Georgia is to be used as a trial section for advanced smart highway technology.

A major highway project in Cameroon faces funding issues as China has suspended its financing for the Yaoundé - Douala link. The highway has an estimated cost of US$473.3 million and the project includes a 68km link between the country’s capital and its second city, as well as an additional 23km of link roads. The link is being built by China First Highway Engineering (Cfhec) with funding by Eximbank. However a disagreement between Cameroon and the Chinese has resulted in the funding being halted for a peri

Financing worth €100 million has been secured for a major highway project in Bosnia. The finance package comes in the shape of a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). This will help pay for work on the 6km Tunel Kvanj-Buna highway. With financing in place, final discussions will be carried out and then construction will be able to commence shortly.

A new head has been appointed for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation (ARTBA-TDF) Board of Trustees. The chairman of ARTBA-TDF will now be HNTB executive vice president Paul Yarossi. Yarossi has been a volunteer ARTBA leader for nearly two decades, serving as 2011 chairman and as ARTBA-TDF vice chair since June 2014. His other ARTBA posts have included: senior vice chairman, first vice chairman, vice-chairman-at-large, chairman of the Transportation