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Some vehicles are too wide for allotted spaces, others are just badly parked – photograph courtesy of Tom Schwimmbeck

Financing looks to have been secured for major tolled highway projects in Indonesia. These highways are the 129km Pekan Baru-Dumai route, which forms part of the Trans-Sumatra highway, the 60.5km Cileunyi-Sumedang-Dawuan (Cisumwadu) road and the 39km Manado-Bitung route. A loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) worth some US$370.2 million is expected to provide around half of the financing required for the Pekan Baru-Dumai route. Meanwhile loans worth a total of $300.2 million from the Ex

A series of major projects in Chile will be put out to tender by March 2018. These will be worth some US$4.08 billion in all. Further transport projects are planned for Chile and 2021, the total value of these will be worth an impressive $8.28 billion. The country’s Chacao Bridge linking to Chiloe Island and Agua Negra Tunnel connecting with neighbouring Argentina are perhaps the two most notable and ambitious transport projects Chile will be working on. The tender process for the $800 million Principe de G

The project to construct a new ring road around Peru’s capital Lima is facing a difficult tangle that has to be unravelled. However the contractor tasked with the construction work, Grupo Ferrovial, is hoping to be able to make up time and start work in January 2017. The tangle needing to be addressed is between Peru’s Ministry of Transport and Communications and the authorities in the city of Lima as the two parties have not agreed the details of the project. The contractor believes it can start work in ti

A major rebuilding project is now planned for a key link in India. The work will be carried out on the Mahatma Gandhi Setu Bridge, which spans the famous River Ganges. Measuring nearly 5.6km, this is the longest river crossing in India and had its official inauguration in 1982. The bridge links Patna in the south to Hajipur in the north of Bihar and features a 7.5m wide deck while lying on 45 supports in all. The repair work is expected to cost close to US$260 million and was approved by India’s Cabinet

The refinancing package for Germany’s A8 Autobahn has now been formalised. The section of the A8 runs between Ulm and Augsburg in the south of Germany and is operated by concession firm Pansuevia, a 50:50 partnership between HOCHTIEF and STRABAG. The 58 km section of the A8 between Ulm and Augsburg was opened to traffic on schedule in September 2015 after four years of construction. PANSUEVIA designed, financed, and carried out the widening of the section to six lanes and took over maintenance and operation

Zimbabwe is in desperate need of major road improvement works right across the country. Estimates suggest that close to US$5 billion is required to refurbish the country’s road network. The country’s roads have become dilapidated with neglect and 88,000km of the country’s network needs rebuilding to improve transportation. Private funding is being sourced to pay for the work, with local contractors keen to tender for the necessary projects and offer competitive bids. Zimbabwe’s economy is in a poor state an

Superior Construction will build the fifth and final section of Florida’s Wekiva Parkway Project in the US. The US$38.65 million contract was awarded by the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX). Superior’s section of the project will be from Kelly Park Road and Country Road 436/Mount Plymouth Road. This work will commence in early August 2016 and should be completed by January 2018. The Wekiva Parkway is being planned jointly between CFX, the Florida Department of Transportation and Florida’s Turn

The final design of Chile’s Chacao Bridge has now been revealed. This project is expected to cost in the order of US$700 million. The initial design was unveiled in 2015 but was then subject to a number of modifications to better meet requirements. South Korean company Hyundai is playing a central role in the consortium that will build the project although its partners for the work have yet to be finalised. Plans to build a bridge connecting Chiloe Island to the Chilean mainland have been discussed for some

Work is progressing on an important toll road project in Indonesia that will link Bogor, Sukabumi and Ciawi in West Java. The construction work is being carried out by Trans Jabar Tol, a subsidiary of state-owned firm Waskita Karya. The project is costing some US$577.6 million and will reduce travel time from Sukabumi to Indonesia’s capital Jakarta to one hour, compared with the four hours the journey can take at present. The project was intended to be complete by 2018 but could now take until 2019 to finis

The tendering process is due to commence for a major new highway project in Bangladesh. The 218km highway is intended to improve transport connections between Dhaka and Chittagong and is expected to cost close to US$2.3 billion. The route will be tolled and will have seven interchanges, while it will run alongside the existing highway. The project is being planned by the country’s Roads and Highways Department (RHD). Two options have been proposed, with one featuring six lanes and three in either direction,

Bidding is underway in the Australian state of Victoria for the Western Distributor road project in Melbourne. The project is expected to cost US$4.06 billion. Interest has been strong in the project with a series of major contractors forming consortiums to submit joint bids. The contracts for the project should be agreed towards the end of 2017, while construction is planned for completion in 2022.

A series of tolled highway projects are commencing in the US state of Texas. These projects are being coordinated with input from the Texas Department of Transportation. One project is worth US$330 million and involves adding tolled lanes to the existing State Highway 360. The second phase of this project would cost an additional $604 million and involve adding further tolled lanes, however funding has yet to be secured before it can progress further. Another project is for the construction of tolled lanes

A stretch of Russia’s M4 Do Federal Highway will switch to toll road operation. The stretch of road runs from Rostov-on-don to Krasnodar (South). The project will include upgrades to the route so as to improve safety and capacity. The work is expected to cost in the region of US$108 million.

Much of the funding for the completion work necessary for Pakistan’s M-4 Highway is being provided by the Asian Development Bank. This will come in the shape of a loan worth US$100 million. A further $34 million in funding is being provided through a grant from the Department for International Development (DFID) in the UK. The highway is of enormous economic importance for Pakistan and the region as it will boost trade and assist with political stabilisation of the region. The M-4Highway forms part of an