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A study carried out in France reveals that bad driving runs in the family. The research was carried out by IPSOS for the French road management group, Vinci. According to the study, parents have a greater influence on the driving behaviour of their offspring than driving instructors. The research was carried out with drivers aged 18-25, with 65% saying that the way their parents drive provides a strong influence on their own driving habits. This extends to speeding, drink driving and road rage incidents. It

Plans are moving forward with regard to the Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros Bridge in the Philippines. Building the 13.2km bridge is expected to cost up to US$457 million and take three years to be completed once the construction gets underway. The bridge will be built in the Visayas Region of the Philippines and would link a number of islands, replacing the ferry services in use at present. Chinese expertise may be employed to help design and construct the link while South Korean sources could deliver a portion of

A loan facility from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help fund work on the project to construct a new bridge over the River Ganges in India’s Bihar State. Because of the width of the river at this point, the bridge will be close to 10km in length, making it the longest in India. The new bridge will improve transport connections between the north and south of the state and the project is expected to cost around US$500 million. Building the bridge will help develop transport and trade in the area, as we

Contractors OHL and Astaldi has won a major portion of a large highway project in California. The work is for the upgrade to I-405 in Los Angeles and is valued at US$ 1.2 billion. The two firms will work in a joint venture on the project. OHL has a 60% stake in the project while Astaldi holds the remaining 40% share. The deal represents a positive move for Astaldi, which is keen to develop its presence in the western US. The six year contract requires the design and construction of the improvement works

Mexico’s Nuevo Leon state will benefit from a budget of US$455.4 million for infrastructure works during 2017. However this is a drop of 16% from the budget allotted for 2016. The funding will be split between road maintenance and building new roads, with a key project being work on the Saltillo-Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo road. Meanwhile the elevated interconnection road linking the Periferico Sur motorway with the Tlalpan toll booth in Mexico City is seen as crucial to helping develop tourism, protecting th

The Australian state of Victoria will benefit from US$2.26 billion (A$3 billion) in funding for planned road projects. This financing will be split equally by the Federal Government and the Victoria State Government. Some $520 million (A$690 million) will be spent on regional and rural road projects while $753.3 million (A$1 billion) will be used to upgrade the Monash Freeway as well as for other works including improving the M80 Ring Road.

President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, announced that the national government will implement the Strategic Mobility Plan until 2030, which will require public and private investments of USD 38bn (EUR 33.83bn). The Minister of Transport and Public Works, Boris Cordova, further added that the primary objective of the initiative will be to expand some of the national routes and to convert them into motorways, in order to accommodate the mounting logistical needs of the growing national economy. With the projects

Turkish highway authorities will tender construction of the remaining part the Izmir-Menemen-Aliaga-Candarli motorway on 15 February. The contract will be build-operate-transfer for the 76km section between the towns of Aliaga and Candarli. Constructions is expected to take three years. The 16km section between Izmir and Menemen is already finished, according to Turkish media. Up to 60,000 vehicles a day are projected to use the highway from Izmir to Candarli. It is officially called the Otoyol 30

The cost for completing the three toll road sections of the Trans-Sumatra project will be almost US$1.7 billion, according to a major Indonesian construction firm. Hutama Karya is working on the 140km stretch from Bakauheni-Terbangi Besar, the 28km Palembang-Simpang Indralya section and the 18km Medan-Binjai stretch, said the company’s managing director, Gusti Ngurah Putera The Trans-Sumatran Highway is the primary north-south road, running around 2,500km on the island of Sumatra. It connect the north

Wide clearance is required for some vehicles - image courtesy of Petra Schwimmbeck

Organisers of bauma Conexpo India are bullish about the success of the upcoming December event with many visitors registering on-line now. Exhibitors, too, have been lining up for bauma Conexpo India to be held December 12-15, 2016, at the HUDA grounds in Gurgaon/Delhi. The fourth International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Mining Machines and Construction Vehicles is being held for the fourth time after solid support from big-name exhibitors in the past. And they

Sydney’s proposed WestConnex motorway will be wider than planned to accommodate four instead of three lanes in each direction, according to media reports. The changes are part of a revamp of the third and final stage of the ambitious project in the capital city of Australia’s eastern New South Wales state. Some exit and entry ramps will also be scrapped but the overall cost of just under US$5.3 billion for the third stage remains unchanged, reported the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. The projects

The Australian city of Melbourne has laid out plans for a US$1.4 billion public-private partnership to revamp major city streets. Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and, with around 4.6 million people, the second most populous city in Australia. Some areas of Melbourne are growing by up to 6% a year. More than 700km of suburban roads will be upgraded by 2022 as part of the 20-year construction and maintenance package, said state premier Daniel Andrews. Eight h

The mayor of the Colombian capital Bogota, Enrique Penalosa, said he is confident of securing nearly US$4 billion for eight infrastructure projects, including roads. Money will come from selling a 20% stake in the energy firm Empresa de Energia de Bogota and privatisation of the local communications firm Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota. Major infrastructure projects include construction of an underground metro system, several feeder roads, the new Carrera 7 route for the Transmilenio bus rapid