News

Teremat, Hitachi Construction Machinery’s dealer for the Rhône-Alpes, Franche-Comté and parts of Burgundy, has opened an office in Chevigny St Sauveur. It serves the areas of Côte d'Or, Jura, Doubs, Saône et Loire and Haute-Saône. The site includes a 200m² workshop as well as office space for meetings with customers. Two sales members and two technicians were recruited specifically for the site.

International construction machinery and vehicles company Wacker Neuson is expanding its UK operations at Beacon Business Park in the city of Stafford where it will open a new UK sales office next summer. Wacker Neuson, which has its group headquarters in Munich, has been a tenant on the original business park for 18 months and already employs 45 people in Stafford with further expansion planned. The new 4,180m2 UK headquarters on more than 1.5 hectares will house offices, warehouses, a parts store, w

Moba Mobile Automation, based in Limburg, Germany, has formed an earthmoving division concentrating on Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Moba develops and manufactures measurement and control technology, identification and weighing systems for construction machines and waste disposal vehicles. Andreas Velten, head of the division, said the move means Moba can provide optimal service and support at regional level, particularly for small and medium-sized construction companies and construction machinery deale

Malaysia has a high crash rate with a large number of fatalities. However the country is trying to reduce the death toll on its roads. The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) has predicted that the number of deaths due to crashes in the country will reach around 8,000 by the end of 2015. The Malaysian Government is introducing road safety strategies in a bid to lower road deaths to less than 5,000/year by 2020. In 2014, road deaths for Malaysia reached 6,674. This cost the country an estimat

A shortage of fuel is affecting transportation in Nepal. The landlocked country is suffering heavily from a fuel shortage following limits on supplies crossing the border from neighbouring India. Nepal is dependent for its fuel supply on the Indian Oil Corporation. According to an official at Nepal Oil Corporation, a total of 18,000kilolitres of petrol, 68,000kilolitres of diesel, 3,000 kiloliters each of kerosene and domestic aviation fuel, 7,000kilolitres of international aviation fuel and 1.40 million

Bolivia is looking to source funding for two major highway projects from China. This development could follow discussions between Bolivia's vice-president Alvaro Garcia Linera and Chinese funding bodies being held during his trip to China. The highways in focus are the links from Porvenir to Chive and from Chive to Ixiamas. The 151km Porvenir to Chive highway is expected to cost around US$385 million to construct. The 254km Chive to Ixiamas highway meanwhile is expected to cost $600 million. Should Chinese

The EU will provide funding worth US$613.37 million to the Ethiopian Government for rural road development. The financing will be provided between 2016 and 2020, as part of a road funding programme in place since 1997. Around 65% of Ethiopia’s local districts have road access at present. The country’s investment in road infrastructure has seen a halving of average journey times in Ethiopia. Meanwhile the road network had grown to nearly 100,000km at the end of 2014 compared to just 26,000km in 1997. The con

Work to complete the Kosice-Ruzomberok highway connection in Slovakia is now being planned. The remaining stretch still to be built is for the South-West Presov by-pass, with the most challenging section being the road tunnel at Presov, which will be 2km long. The construction work is commencing shortly and is expected to cost close to €370 million. The work is expected to take four years to complete. Slovakia’s national highway company NDS is at present evaluating which construction firm would be best plac

Panama is working on projects to construct two new bridge crossings over the Panama Canal. According to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), work is progressing well on the project to build the third bridge over the Canal. The project is costing around US$570 million, of which USD 382mn have been already allocated. The bridge is due for completion in 2017. Meanwhile Panama's Ministry of Public Works (MOP) is opening the tender process to build select the project manager for the project to build the fourth brid

The leading Indian construction equipment exhibition is being renamed BAUMA CONEXPO, with the fourth event being held in Delhi from December 12th-15th 2016. Three successful trade shows have held under the name of bC India, with the first in 2011 as a cooperation between Messe München and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). To further raise the profile of this exhibition, the two partners have agreed on a new name for the event: BAUMA CONEXPO INDIA. By doing this, Messe München and AEM are

Work on a series of major road projects is now gathering pace. The Polish General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) is signing contracts worth over €753.55 mIllion for the construction of two S7 dual carriageway sections. These will form part of the Gdansk-Warsaw route. Czech firm Metrostav will build the 20km section between Koszwaly and Nowy Dwor Gdanski. And Budimex will construct the 19km section between Nowy Dwor Gdanski and Kazimierzowo.

The International Road Federation (IRF) is calling for presentations on road safety for events in Saudi Arabia and Washington DC. These presentations should be on Roadside Safety, Work Zone Safety and Vulnerable User Safety. They will be made at the IRF Middle East Regional Congress in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from December 15th to December 17th, 2015.

Japanese funding will help pay for the construction of a key bridge link in Sri Lanka. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing a loan worth US$292.14 million for the bridge project. The new link will span the Kelani River.

India’s rate of fatal road crashes is high, with one death occurring every four minutes on average according to research. Worse still, the study also shows that India’s road deaths could increase further to a fatality every three minutes on average by 2020. The rate of road related fatalities is increasing as vehicle numbers grow in the country. Safety measures and enforcement measures are inadequate, which is why the problem is continuing to grow. The cost of this high road death rate is an economic burden