News

A novel approach to improving road safety is being made in Thailand. The country is now making it compulsory for convicted drink drivers to visit hospital morgues. This move is being handled by the Thai Probation Department and forms part of a series of measures intended to improve road safety in Thailand. The aim of the programme is to scare drivers committing DUI offences into avoiding reoffending. The country has the second highest rate of road fatalities in the world, according to a report by the World

Work is progressing on the key Red Vial 5 highway project in Peru. The construction phase of the Huacho-Pativilca highway should finish in March 2017. The 183km long highway project has been carried out in two phases, with the first being finished in 2008 and costing some US$58 million. However costs have escalated for the second phase and it will come with a bill of some $119.6 million when the work is completed in 2017, around 12 months later than originally planned. The road operator is Norvial and this

Hungary has plans in hand for a programme of works that will improve its transportation system. In all there are 19 transport projects being worked on. These will be implemented as part of the EU's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Funding from the EU worth up to €795 million looks likely to be made available to pay for the construction work required. Two of the key road projects icnluded will be for the widening of the existing M70 and M15 dual carriageways, with these routes also being upgraded to highway

The tender process is commencing in Croatia for a major bridge project. The new Peljeski Bridge construction project is expected to cost some €526 million. Some of the financing required for the bridge will be provided by the EU, which is supplying €330 million, around 70% of the funding needed for the work. Once the bridge opens to traffic, it will provide an important transport link for Croatia, connecting road links to the Adriatic Coastline. The work is planned to be carried out in four separate phases,

Engineering and consultancy firm Michael Baker International will work on a major highway reconstruction project in Colombia, South Carolina. The project is intended to improve the commute for drivers in the state. The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has awarded Michael Baker International a US$8.8-million contract to provide construction engineering and inspection services for an 17.6km section of Interstate 20 (I-20) in Lexington County. The section of I-20 is a main artery into and

Japanese firm Yanmar is acquiring the compact construction equipment business of Terex Corporation. The deal is worth around US$60 million and will see ownership of Terex Corporation’s German operations that manufacture compact machines being transferred to Yanmar Holdings. Terex manufactures and markets ranges of wheeled loaders, midi and mini excavators, wheeled excavators, and a number of other products in Europe through this business. Included in the acquisition is the manufacturing facility located in

A US$780 million eastward extension to Toronto’s major toll highway 407 has opened after four years of construction. Work on 407 East Phase 1 project – which also included construction of the smaller Highway 412 – involved building more than 148 lane-kilometres and 11 interchanges. The 22km road stretches from Brock Road in the town of Pickering to Harmony Road in the city of Oshawa. Highway 412 is a 10km north-south road that connects Highway 407 to Highway 401. Travel on the toll road will be free u

India is the new focus for the world construction industry market. In 2015 there was a change in perspective in Asia, with demand for machines in China dropping in terms of construction growth. India posted growth of 5.3% during 2015, while China achieved growth of 4%. This change at the top has been confirmed by the SaMoTer-Verona Outlook. This is a construction sector observatory group set up in partnership with Prometeia, the international economic consulting and research firm, with the support of Una

Insufficient police enforcement across Europe is damaging road safety, according to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). Two reports available through the ETSC say that a fall in the level of police enforcement of traffic offences is contributing to Europe’s failure to cut the numbers dying in road collisions. More than 26,000 people died on EU roads last year, the first increase since 2001 according to the ETSC annual road safety performance index (PIN) report. Exceeding speed limits, drink or

The UK’s A591 road in Cumbria was badly damaged in last December’s storms but recent work on a retaining wall is making life easier for construction crews. The vital Lake District tourist route, which stretches between Grasmere and Keswick, has been closed between St Johns in the Vale and Dunmail Raise following storms Desmond and Eva. A new 106m retaining wall - the length of a football pitch - is being built in the beck alongside the part of the A591 which collapsed during the bad weather. Contractors

Qatar is setting the wheels in motion for the development of a comprehensive highway network. Engineering firm KBR is working on a three year, US$185 million consultancy contract to manage Qatar’s highway construction and improvement programme. This package is an extension to KBR’s earlier contract, which the firm won in 2010. The new contract was awarded by Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) and the highway network plans will form part of the country’s National Vision 2030 strategy. New and improved

A Mott MacDonald and Sweco joint venture has been appointed by Transport Scotland to carry out route option assessment and detailed design work for dualling of the A96 highway between Hardmuir and Fochabers. The nearly 47km stretch of the road will provide users with improved journey times between two of Scotland’s economic hubs, the cities of Inverness and Aberdeen. In 2011, the Scottish Government published its Infrastructure Investment Plan which set out the Government’s plans for infrastructure i