News

A new joint venture team will carry out the construction of a major new highway project in Indonesia. The project will see the construction of the Serpong Balaraja highway in Tangerang Regency. Construction is due to commence in July 2016 with the work expected to cost over US$452.5 million. The partnership will be headed by local firm Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD), with a 50% stake. Its partners will be Transindo Karya Investama and Astratel Nusantara, both with 25% shares in the partnership.

Major road widening projects for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have been awarded by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Local construction company PNC Infratech will widen key routes in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. One of the projects will be to widen a 102km stretch of the Nagina-Kashipur section of NH-74 00 to four lanes. The contract is worth some US$174.2 million.

A new highway project will help mobility in East Africa. The 172km route through Kenya will be upgraded following the loan of US$228 million by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB). The route forms part of the Sirari Corridor that connects Kenya, Tanzania and South Sudan and is an important highway for transport and trade in East Africa. The upgrade work will also include improvements to 77km of secondary roads, as well as public transport facilities in the area.

China’s capital Beijing is increasing the restrictions on vehicle use in the city. Beijing is banning electric two wheelers from key routes in the city in a bid to boost safety and cut crashes. These electric two wheelers will be banned from 10 key routes, with rule breakers facing fines and vehicle seizures should they attempt to avoid paying. The measures are being introduced to busy routes such as the extended Chang'an Avenue, one of Beijing’s main thoroughfares. They also include several roads around

A major cause of car crashes in the UAE can be revealed to be poor use of indicators. This has been revealed in a survey of drivers in the UAE by YouGuv, carried out on behalf of Qatar Insurance Company and RoadSafetyUAE. The survey of over 1,000 UAE drivers showed that only 15% of motorists are seen using indicators when driving. However 67% of those responding to the survey said that they use their indicators most of the time. Meanwhile 90% of drivers responding to the survey said they believe that using

Peru's Transport Ministry has announced a series of new road concession deals in the country. One of the key concessions approved is for the road between Ica and Arequipa along the Panamericana Sur highway. Another concession due to be awarded is for section four of Longitudinal de la Sierra high connecting Huancayo and Abancay.

Paraguay is commencing the tender process for the first section of the bi-oceanic corridor project. The plans have been announced by the Public Works and Communications Ministry. Work on the first section of the bi-oceanic corridor will be carried out between Carmelo Peralta and Loma Plata. The project is expected to cost in the region of US$315 million. The tender process for the second section of the corridor will commence in late 2016. This section of the route will run between Mariscal Estigarribia and

A major highway upgrade project in Azerbaijan is receiving fuding from the World Bank. Under the terms of the deal the World Bank has approved financing worth US$140 million for the widening of the Baku-Shamakhi highway. The highway will be widened to four lanes, increasing capacity.

Volvo Construction Equipment’s latest H-Series wheeled loaders give a high performance in heavy-duty operations. All the machines - L150H, L180H, L180H HL (High-Lift), L220H and L250H - are equipped with Volvo’s OptiShift technology. Volvo says this eliminates power loss in the torque converter and reduces fuel consumption by up to 18%. Combined with Volvo CE’s patented Reverse By Braking (RBB) technology, OptiShift boosts productivity and efficiency in all applications. RBB is ideal for short cycl

The 2015/16 Global Competitive Report from the World Economic Forum shows that Denmark has fallen to 13th place with regard to competitiveness in terms of infrastructure, health and education. Denmark also ranks 16th in terms of road quality. Jesper Arkil, chief executive of Danish construction company Arkil and chairman of the Road Building Section of the Danish Construction Association (Dansk Byggeri), said that this heavily underscores the need for renovations and expansion of the Danish road netwo

The Australian Asphalt Pavement Association is inviting abstracts for its 2017 AAPA International Flexible Pavements Conference to be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre The conference, whose theme is Roads of the Future: Embracing Disruption, will consider how change offers opportunities and challenges. The future of transport and the role that roads play in moving people and goods is facing unprecedented potential disruption. The 2017 AAPA International Flexible Pavements Conference is openly em

The West Australia state government is expected to face another legal challenge for its proposed extension of the Roe 8 highway, according to ABC News. This fresh challenge will be filed by local traditional owner Corina Abraham who will argue that the WA government's process for granting Aboriginal heritage approval is flawed. In June 2015, the Aboriginal Cultural Materials Committee decided to approve the state government's request for disturbing registered aboriginal sites in order to extend the Ro

Work has started on road projects worth about US$4.5 billion in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Projects include a flyover connecting Pune Naka and Sat Rasta Chowk, as well as the four-laning of four roads, namely NH-13, NH 150E, NH-166 and NH9. Meanwhile, within the coming year, nearly 700km of in the state of Tamil Nadu are to be upgraded and transferred to the National Highways Authority, according to a report in SteelGuru. The list of roads is expected to be handed to the Ministry of Road Tran

Budimex has signed a contract worth more than €214.3 million for construction of the second section of Olsztyn's ring-road. The section will be around 14.7km long and will be completed within 28 months. The bid by Budimex was the fourth lowest offer in the tender, as announced by the Polish General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA).

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Hrvatske autoceste – a state-owned company in charge of the construction, maintenance and tolling of Croatia’s motorways – have signed a loan of up to €250 million. The EBRD’s sovereign-guaranteed loan will come in two tranches. The first €200 million will be used to refinance a portion of HAC’s sovereign-guaranteed debt falling due in 2016. The remaining €50 million will finance operational and efficiency improvements and may serve as a