News

Malaysia’s road safety problem is a cause for concern. The country’s Transport Ministry has revealed data showing that in 2016, Malaysia figured amongst the countries with the highest rate of road fatalities. The figures show that for every 10,000 registered motor vehicles on Malaysia’s roads, there were 2.55 deaths. One new strategy intended to address the problem being launched by the Transport Ministry is the Malaysia-wide National Blue Ocean Strategy Road Safety Cluster. Meanwhile the Safe Kids Mala

Construction work on Colombia’s landmark Yati-Bodega bridge is already 50% complete. The 2.3km Puente de la Reconciliacion Bridge spans the Magdalena River and when complete, will be the longest in the country. The project is challenging however, due to the river’s flow rate as well as the underlying geology. Once the bridge opens to traffic, it will connect the municipality of Mompox with the rest of Colombia’s Bolivar department. At present Mompox and Magangue are difficult to reach by road due to the lac

The French government has inked an agreement with infrastructure groups Vinci, APRR and Sanef for a major €800 million motorway investment plan. The agreement encompasses 32 upgrading projects for highway interchanges and 25 construction projects to provide motorway service stops devoted to car-pooling. Minister of State for Transport Alain Vidalies, who signed the agreement, said the first projects could start by the end of this year. Work will be paid for partly from toll increases between 0.1-0.4%

Improving sales of construction machines by Italian manufacturers are resulting in greater business confidence amongst these firms. According to the Italian construction machine manufacturing association, UNACEA, the machine sales figures for 2016 saw a notable improvement over the results for 2015. During 2016, 10,984 construction machines of various types were sold in the Italian market. This was a 26% increase over the numbers sold in the previous year. The UNACEA data shows that 10,517 earthmoving machi

The budget for Germany’s Motorway Directorate for Northern Bavaria will remain at around €520 million for 2017, according to media reports. For many years the budget for the Autobahndirektion Nordbayern (ADNB) was pegged between €320-380 million. This changed last year when it was boosted to €520 million, noted the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Substantial work is planned on the A3 and A6 motorways and on bridges. The 94km on the A3 between Aschaffenburg and Würzburg will be widened to six lanes by 2

Stalker Traffic Technologies’ Phodar SE-1 photo traffic enforcement radar system has been approved by Latvia to participate in any Latvian speed enforcement tender. Prior to Latvian acceptance, the SE-1 received its CE Marking and International Organisation of Legal Metrology certification. Both are required for Latvian approval which is granted through the Latvian National Metrology Centre, under the Ministry of Economics. The SE-1 automatically monitors up to 32 vehicles moving in either direction acro

Variable message sign manufacturer Bartco UK has announced a partnership with Signature Group (France), a European intelligent transport system (ITS) manufacturer. The two companies will jointly develop ITS products for manufacture both by Bartco UK and Signature Group’s industries. These will include UK regulation-compatible versions of existing MS4 high-resolution VMS and AMI products and a new generation of embedded VMS and arrows for highway maintenance trucks. Signature Group also will promo

A huge budget for transport development has been set by the authorities in China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region. The US$3.2 billion (RMB 22 billion) budget for 2017 represents a 13.8% increase over the figures for 2016, revealing the extra focus being given to upgrading the region’s transport network. Of the budget, $1.454 billion will be used to boost the region’s network of highways. The Ningxia Hui autonomous region is located in the north of China and has a comparatively low population density, so this

Siemens has agreed to supply its satellite-based prioritisation system Sitraffic Stream to the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik Reykjavik and the Icelandic Road and Coastal administration (Vegagerd rikisins) are sharing the system that ensures traffic lights automatically turn green for emergency and urban public transport vehicles at road intersections. The system has been installed at six intersections in the centre of the capital. Over the coming months, around 50 fire trucks and ambulances will be fitted

The US city of Kingman, on the iconic trans-American Route 66, has chosen the Opticom GPS pre-emption traffic solution from Global Traffic Technologies. The system from GTT works alongside intersection controllers to ensure emergency vehicles move through intersections rapidly and safely. The Opticom solution includes a GPS component for location and wireless communications between authorised vehicles and the intersections which they approach. When an emergency vehicle on call needs to navigate an int

The Dutch province of South Holland has awarded the contract for building the Rijnland Route to the consortium Comol5, according to consortium member Vinci. Rijnland Route will connect Katwijk, via the A44, to the A4 at Leiden. Comol5 consists of TBI companies Mobilis and Croonwolter&dros (25% each), DIMCO - DEME Infra Marine Contractors - (25%) and Vinci Construction Grands Projets (25%). Value of the contract is €492 million. The consortium will be responsible for the reconstruction of the Leiden

The organiser of the SaMoTer 2017 construction equipment exhibition, Veronafiere, is gearing up for this coming event and is bullish about the show’s coming impact for the industry. A strong showing for both exhibitors and visitors is expected, with the event being Europe’s premium construction equipment launch venue for 2017. As a result many of the world’s major construction equipment manufacturers will be unveiling sophisticated new machines at the event, which is being held in the Italian city of Verona

Caterpillar’s financial results for 2016 reflect the tough trading conditions that US construction machine firms in particular have been experiencing. In another development, the firm is looking to move its global corporate headquarters from Peoria to Chicago.

A US$1.5 billion Interstate project is being put forward for approval in the US State of Texas. The LBJ East project is being proposed the city of Dallas and will be an 18km stretch of Interstate 635 that will connect Central Expressway with Interstate 30. The project has been planned by the Texas Transportation Department and is intended to boost capacity in the areas around Lake Highland, Garland, Far East Dallas and Mesquite. The proposed route calls for two of the seven lanes on the widened Interstate s