News

Malaysia is pushing ahead with a series of construction projects that will form sections of the Pan Borneo Highway in Sarawak. Work will go ahead on eight sections of this important route and this will form phase one of the project, with the cost anticipated as some US$3.05 billion. The eight packages consist of the 95km stretch from Sematan to Sungai Moyan Bridge, an 89km stretch connecting Pantu Interchange with Batang Skrang and the 80km section from Sungai Tangap Interchange to the Pujut Link Road. They

Expropriation costs are rising for two major Thailand motorway projects, according to the Department of Highways director-general Thanin Somboon. Around US$165 million were estimated to be needed about eight years ago for the 96km Bang Yai-Kanchanaburi motorway project. However, the latest estimate is about $610 million, said highways director-general Thanin Somboon. This is on top of the estimated construction cost of around $1.2 billion, he said. For the 109km Nakhon Pathom-Cha-Am motorway projec

Serbia and Bosnia have started talks on constructing a fast highway between the Serbian capital Belgrade and Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbian Vice President Zorana Mihajlovic met with the Bosnian minister of transport, Ismir Jusko, to agree on forming a joint working group to consider routes and road construction, according to the Serbian newspaper B92. Mihajlovic said that Serbia's main focus is for building the 100km Pozega-Visegrad section, of which 60km is in Serbia and 40km in

Germany has boosted its transportation infrastructure spending for 2017. The biggest slice of the budget - 42% - goes to the labour and social welfare ministry, followed by the military which gets just over 11% of the money, €36 billion, up €2.7 billion. The total budget of the German Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure amounts to €26.8 billion, up 9.2% or €2.2billion from this year. Of this €26.8 billion, €13.7 billion will be invested in infrastructure. This will grow in 2018 to €14.4 b

Two new bridges are planned for Vietnam, with the work expected to cost a total of US$446 million. These bridge links will be built by local firm Trung Nam Construction Investment and will be designed to improve road traffic flow in Nha Be district, while also forming part of a wider flood control scheme. One of the bridges will be built at Cay Kho floodgate while the other is planned to be built at Muong Chuoi floodgate. In all the plan also calls for the construction of six gates to control tides and redu

Guatemala is pushing ahead with a plan to develop its road network. The expansion programme will see over US$225 million being spent on improving the country’s road connections during 2017. The work calls for the construction of 1,600km of roads, which will help improve access to many rural areas. Tolled highways will also be completed in Barberena and Chimaltenango. Funding will come partly from the general road authority, Direccion General de Caminos (DCG) and from the cooperation fund Fondo de Solidarida

The opening of a new bridge in Kazakhstan that spans the Irtysh River is now offering a shorter route for drivers. The link is 12.3km long and is now the longest such structure in Central Asia, while the project cost around US$157 million. Its length was necessary as the bridge crosses a floodplain area, with a channel that can widen considerably following periods of heavy rain. Located in the country’s Pavlodar region, the bridge cuts the route used previously by over 40km. The bridge is expected to carry

Work on the US$675.5 million (A$896 million) Torrens to Torrens project in the Australian city of Adelaide is well underway. One of the latest aspects of the project is for the construction of a new bridge link. This will carry vehicles at Torrens Road over South Road and will help improve traffic flow in the area.

Contractor Vinci Construction looks set to handle a major road junction improvement scheme in the UK, although the final permission process has yet to be achieved for the work. The project requires the construction of a new junction on the M20 motorway in Kent, close to Ashford. The new junction 10a will be located around 700m from the existing junction 10a, but will feature significant improvements in its design so as to boost capacity. Congestion is a major problem for the existing junction so the £39 mil

Business transactions, high-quality trade visitors and more participants than in 2014 mark out this year’s bauma CONEXPO India which took place at HUDA Ground in Delhi from December 12-15. More than 31,000 participants and 647 exhibitors - of which 57% were international companies from 30 countries - came to the fourth International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Mining Machines and Construction Vehicles, which occupied a total of 150,000m². Igor Palka, chief execut

The UK’s Highways England has awarded four new-style road contracts worth over €360 million for road works in northern England. Two 15-year maintenance and response contracts expected to be worth up to €314 million have been awarded, one to Kier Highways and the other to a joint venture of CH2M and Costain. The Asset Delivery contracts, which will start on 1 April, will see Kier Highways operating in the rugged county of Cumbria. The CH2M-Costain JV operating in the North East will deliver routine h

The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link between Danish and German islands faces ongoing delays that are pushing a construction start past this year and well into 2018. A meeting in mid-December between Danish traffic minister Ole Birk Olesen and his German counterpart Reinhard Meyer for the neighbouring German state of Schleswig-Holstein, highlighted mounting opposition against the €7 billion or more project. During the meeting, Meyer stressed that the Schleswig-Holstein government remains determined to implement

Guatemala is opening the tender process to improve and widen the CA-2 Occidente highway connection between Cocales and Tecun Uman. The Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV) is handling the tender for the project. Cocales is located in Guatemala’s Suchitepequez region, while Tecun Uman is in San Marcos. The highway capacity upgrade has an estimated cost of US$397.2 million to carry out. However, the project has been the subject of some controversy as the Brazilian contractor Odebrec

Construction work to widen the Autopista Norte highway in Colombia is being handled by the Accenorte consortium. The work involves widening a 4.2km stretch of the highway, which lies to the north of Colombia’s capital Bogota. The project is worth close to US$157 million, with the majority of the funding being delivered by the consortium partners and the remainder from a Colombian Bank. The consortium is led by Mincivil with a 57.43% stake. It also includes Universal with a 16.7% share, Castro Tcherassi with