News

Plans are in hand for a major upgrade to a key route in Bangladesh. The US$1.52 billion project will see the 190km Elenga-Hatikumrul-Rangpur route being widened to four lanes, with two lanes in either direction. The route includes a crossing over the Brahmaputra River. Some of the funding will be provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), close to Elenga.

India is embarking upon a series of large road upgrade projects. In all 16 roads will be improved in 11 states, with a total length of 622km. The work will cost US$1.12 billion in all to carry out and the timeline for the tendering process has yet to be announced. The projects will be carried out in the states of Arunachal Pradesh Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. Meanwhile Ashoka Concessions has been awarded the $311 million

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government said it is seeking proposals for the management of Canberra city’s 79,000 streetlights to improve cost and energy efficiencies.

The first data-collecting sensors as part of a delayed but major roads project have been stationed atop traffic light poles in Chicago. The US city installed two nodes containing computers and sensors including low-resolution cameras as well as air quality sensors, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune newspaper.

Qatar is investing heavily in developing its expressway network. The country’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has a programme of expressway construction worth a total of US$13.68 billion. So far 11 expressways are being built while plans are being drawn up for another 10 routes.

A South Korean contractor is to carry out construction work on a key Qatar project. The contract for the project was awarded by Qatar’s public works authority Ashghal to Daewoo Engineering & Construction (Daewoo E&C).

The Polish government has approved construction of the second phase of the ring road around Nowe Miasto Lubawskie. A deal is expected to be signed at the beginning of next year to complete the 18km road.

The Serbian government has said it could issue penalties to the Azerbaijani construction company Azvirt for delays to work on the Ljig-Preljina Corridor 11 motorway project. Completion was set for the middle of next month. But last month the government said delays of around a month were due to problems construction the tunnel and bridge sections. The new route is expected to open around 40 days later than originally expected as a result.

The organisers of the upcoming Gulf Traffic Conference intend to provide attendees with a comprehensive programme of discussions. The next Gulf Traffic Conference will gather innovative thought-leaders to deliver high-level discussions on the future of traffic and urban transportation in the Middle East.

The CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017 construction/quarrying machinery exhibition will offer a record 143 education sessions across 10 tracks. This will include a new Technology track, to provide attendees with the latest industry knowledge and best practices to improve professional skills and company productivity.

Visitor interest is strong for CONEXPO-CON/AGG and the co-located IFPE exhibitions, which will be held March 7th- 11th, 2017 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. This event will target the construction and construction materials and fluid power/power transmission/motion control industries.

Algeria is planning to restart construction of the final section of the country’s East- West Highway project as well as a tunnel at Djebel El Ouahch. Some 84km of the East-West highway located in Algeria’s El Tarf region remains to be built following the withdrawal of a Japanese-led consortium from the project. The project to build the 1.9km twin tube tunnel at Djebel El Ouahch and close to Constantine faced major geological challenges.