News

Construction work is due to commence in Hungary on a new dual carriageway, which will be the country’s first intelligent road for testing self-driving cars. The new R-76 route will link the M7 highway with Zalaegerszeg and is expected to cost close to €535 million to build. The road will run close to Sarmellek Airport and will take 24 months to construct.

Construction work for a new expressway project is now underway in the Philippines. The Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) will link Mactan with mainland Cebu. The work includes the construction of bridge and the project is being carried out under a Public-Private Partnership scheme. The work is being carried out by Metro Pacific Tollways. Also planned is construction work to build bridges joining Leyte, Negros, Bohol, and Cebu.

Brazilian contractor Odebrecht may withdraw from its current contracts in Peru. The firm had planned to continue operating in Peru but is now considering withdrawing. Odebrecht has hit a series of troubles in Peru due to the complex political situation as well as allegations over improper business practices. The firm is looking to sell off the contracts that it holds in Peru at present and has already dispensed with some operations in the country.

In Poland a legal case is now underway concerning the A4 highway project. The construction firm PBG has launched a case against Poland’s road authority, GDDKiA. The dispute centres on the stretch of the A4 linking Krzyyz and Debica Pustynia. Also involved in the case are the administrator Aprivia, and the contractor SIAC Construction. The contract to build the section of A4 was lost by the contractors in 2012 and the dispute centres on which body was at fault, with substantial claims for payment being made.

A key stretch of highway in Romania is now open to traffic, connecting Lugoj with Marginea. This 15km long stretch of highway forms part of the planned Lugoj-Deva highway. Located in western Romania, the highway is being built by a joint venture comprising Salini Impregilo and Societa Edile Construzioni e Lavori. The project is worth some €124 million, with the work having been supervised by Romania’s National Road Infrastructure Administration Agency (CNAIR).

Work on two sections of the S17 highway in Poland will now go ahead following the granting of permission from the local authorities in the Mazowieckie area. In total the two stretches of the S17 will measure over 25km long. One of the stretches will connect Gonczyce with the ring road around Garwolin and will measure 12.2km. The other stretch runs from Lubelskie through Mazowieckie to Gonczyce and is 13km long. The work is being carried out by the contractor Budimex. Work on a further 95km stretch of the S1

Plans are in hand in the Philippines for a series of bridge construction projects. Two of the key bridge projects are for links between Luzon and Samar Island and from Leyte Island to Surigao. The work is expected to cost some US$3.85 billion. Construction work could commence in early 2018.

Work is commencing on Warsaw’s ring road project. The work will be carried out on the A section of the Warsaw Southern Ring-Road (POW). This stretch of the ring road runs from Pulawska to the Przyczolkowska junction and is costing just over €278 million to construct, with the project being managed by Italian contractor Astaldi. One of the more complex and challenging aspects of the work will be constructing a tunnel section underneath a metro route.

A series of major highway projects are now being implemented in the Philippines. Key projects being implemented close to Davao City include the US$380 million Davao City-Panabo City bypass, the $537.5 million Coastal Road and two flyovers worth $14 million in total. The bypass project will cut journey times and includes the construction of a tunnel section, with a portion of the funding being provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The new coastal route will also cut congestion and jo

A rural roads programme will develop Dagestan’s transport links, helping boost its economy. Some 135.5km of roads will be rebuilt and repaired. A budget of US$113 million was used in 2016 to rebuild 78km of rural roads and 19 bridges in the country during 2016.

New agreements signed between South Sudan and Ethiopia will include the construction of new road routes connecting the two countries. The first of these projects will be for a road running through Boma, Bor, Dima and Raad. A road is also planned to run through Pagak, Gamebella and Palouge. The sections of road in Ethiopia that will connect with the stretches in South Sudan are already complete. Much of the financing for the projects looks likely to come from Ethiopia as war-torn South Sudan is suffering ser

Fugro is providing the consultancy services for the Zuidasdok project in Amsterdam. The firm will work with the ZuidPlus partners, which are Fluor, Heijmans and HOCHTIEF. The Zuidasdok project is of major importance as it is one of the largest infrastructure developments in the Netherlands. The project includes developing the A10 South highway, which comprises widening the route and contructing a cut and cover tunnel for a portion of it. The A10 South is one of the busiest highways in The Netherlands and

A key stretch of the D3 highway in Slovakia will open in the third quarter of 2017. This timescale represents a delay however as the section of road was originally planned to open in the second quarter of 2017. The 4.25km section runs from Zilina Strazov to Zilina Brodno and is costing close to €306 million to construct, with most of the funding being supplied by EU sources. This stretch of the highway is both complex and challenging as it includes a 2.2km section of tunnel as well as bridge over the the Hr