News

Recent flooding in Peru has damaged around 4,585km of roads, impacting on the country’s transport sector. Of those roads affected, 1,231km are so severely damaged as to require rebuilding. Meanwhile 117 bridges were wrecked by flooding that occurred between December 2016 and January 2017. A further 224 bridges suffered damaged. The state of Lima suffered the heaviest damage, with 526km of roads being totally wrecked while Arequipa had 225km of its roads destroyed. A combination of river floods and landslide

The partnership between Japanese construction machinery firm Kato Works and IHI Corporation has now further developed. IHI Corporation transferred 100% of its stock in IHI Construction Machinery to Kato Works. Meanwhile the Italian-based company IHIMER is now renamed as Kato Heavy Industries Construction Machinery, or Kato Hicom. Following the stock transfers and agreements of the respective boards, the firm is now called KATO IMER.

Poor road safety is a serious issue in several countries in the Middle East.

New road development will help improve connections to New Zealand’s main international airport at Auckland. The work is expected to cost close to US$104 million and is intended to cut congestion around the airport and improve journey times to and from the facility, as well as boosting safety for road users. Improvements will be made to the roundabout at Landing Drive and the work should be complete by the end of 2017. The plan was announced recently by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).

Three new bridges will be constructed the port city of Pemba in Mozambique. Funding for the bridges is being provided by Japan, following the conclusion of successful discussions with its government and the Mozambique Government. The bridges will help to improve the links between Pemba and the district of Palma, which lies to the north of the city. Japan will also assist in developing a transport system for Mozambique’s capital, Maputo.

The Serbian government has announced that work on the new highway from Nis to Pristina, capital of neighbouring Kosovo, is expected to start next year. The motorway will eventually connect Serbia and Albania, to the west of Kosovo, ensuring a main fast transport route for the western Balkans region. Details have not been disclosed but the cost is likely to be around €800 million.

Bogota will expand several city roads starting early next year. These include the expansion of Autopista Norte and Carrera Septima, as well extending Avenida Longitudinal de Occidente to the south, will begin in 2018. All three projects will be completed using public-private partnership contracts and need around US$838.5 million in total. Details of the work to be let will be published by early April.

Bogota will expand several city roads starting early next year. These include the expansion of Autopista Norte and Carrera Septima, as well extending Avenida Longitudinal de Occidente to the south, will begin in 2018. All three projects will be completed using public-private partnership contracts and need around US$838.5 million in total. Details of the work to be let will be published by early April.

UK output from companies involved in manufacturing equipment and parts continued on an encouraging upward trend in January, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. Output in January was 2.3% higher than in December, and 9.5% up on January 2016. In fact, output in January was the highest monthly output since the first quarter of 2015 and the six-month moving average has returned to mid-2015 levels. On a quarterly basis, output ended 2016 on an improving trend, with October/December 1.1%

UK output from companies involved in manufacturing equipment and parts continued on an encouraging upward trend in January, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. Output in January was 2.3% higher than in December, and 9.5% up on January 2016. In fact, output in January was the highest monthly output since the first quarter of 2015 and the six-month moving average has returned to mid-2015 levels. On a quarterly basis, output ended 2016 on an improving trend, with October/December 1.1%

The proposed Fehmarn Belt Tunnel to link Denmark and northern Germany will never be economically viable, according a report commissioned by German ferry operator Scandilines. Revenue and traffic forecasts are unrealistically high, notes the report completed by German consultancy DIW Econ. It is unlikely that the latest cost to build the massive road tunnel, around €7.4 billion, would ever be recovered. The Fehmarn Belt is a strait between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland. Cur

Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vucic said that part of the future Pozega-Boljare motorway towards Montenegro could be let under a concession to China. Meanwhile, Serbian minister of construction and infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic, has said that around €9 billion of all types of infrastructure projects are underway. Included is the Corridor 10 motorway, due for completion by the beginning of 2018 and the 103km Obrenovac-Preljina motorway set for completion by the end of this year, as well as project

China Road and Bridges Corporation has reportedly appointed 67 Montenegrin contractors for its work in Montenegro. Contractually, CRBC must have at least 30% of the work going to Montenegrin firms, according to the national Montenegrin roads company Monteput. Monteput also said that the value of construction work in 2016 grew by over 30% to €383 million in comparison with 2015.