News

Construction of the Interamericana Norte highway in Costa Rica is said to be proceeding on track. Work is being carried out on the 50km Canas-Liberia section of the project. The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) says that studies for the Canas-Limonal stretch of the new highway have been completed. The studies will then have to be submitted before the country's road authority Conavi to commence the tender process. A contract is expected to be granted by the middle of 2015. Funding could be provi

In Brazil financing issues have hit a number of transport projects in Minas Gerais state. The Banco do Brasil is holding back funds for planned work. As a result the state government of Minas Gerais has halted work on 32 construction projects. The Banco do Brasil has not provided the expected US$345.86 million for the work to be carried out. The finances were arranged by the central government through its funding programmes. The projects include a section of the MG-437 road between Sabara and Nova Lima. The

A new study on transportation investment has been carried out by forecasting company IHS. The firm is a global source of critical information and insight and the report outlines the economic benefits of federal highway and transit investment programmes on the US economy. The IHS report was commissioned by the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) and focuses on federal investment and examines outcomes on non-construction jobs, household incomes, and state and local tax revenues.

Engineer Abdullah Al-Mogbel, chairman of the International Road Federation, has been appointed Saudi Arabia’s minister of transport. The appointment was made by royal order of His Majesty Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Chairman Al-Mogbel's appointment is the latest development in a wide ranging career, which began in 1978 as a project manager at the Ministry of Communications (later renamed the Ministry of Transport). This was at the onset of Saudi Arabia

The Institution of Engineers Australia has awarded World Highways contributor Dr Maxwell Lay the prestigious Peter Nicol Russell medal for his contribution to science and engineering. According to the citation, the medal is the most prestigious award made by the institution. “The recipient represents the technical, professional and community service standards of engineering to the profession and the community.” May received degrees at Melbourne University and the US university Lehigh in Pennsylvania.

JCB has won one of the biggest engine supply deals after securing an annual contract with Terex GB worth around £4.5 million. The agreement sees JCB supply Terex with engines for site dumpers made at Terex’s plant in the city of Coventry. The engines, made by JCB Power Systems in Derbyshire, UK, will be the fuel efficient Ecomax 55kW/74HP stage3B/Tier 4 Final models. Initially, they will power two Terex site dumper models, the TA6 and TA6S. JCB chief executive Graeme Macdonald said the “major mil

Brazil’s Transport Ministry is putting the concession contract to maintain the Rio-Niterói bridge in Rio de Janeiro out to tender. The present 20-year maintenance contract for the bridge held by Ponte will run out in May 31st 2015, reports Business News Americas. The new concession deal will involve maintaining the structure as well as building an underpass underneath Renascença square in Niterói. Construction of the 13.3km pre-stressed concrete structure commenced in 1968 and was completed in 1974, at whic

A study carried out in Argentina by NGO Luchemos por la Vida reveals that female drivers are safer than male drivers. The study was based on data from 4,724 drivers in Buenos Aires city. The results reveal that women drivers take fewer risks and are less likely to break the law than male drivers. Women drivers wear seat belts more than men, are less likely to drive through red lights and are also less likely to use a phone while behind the wheel. The findings match previous international studies.

Simply banning cars in parts of major cities will not necessarily greatly improve the air quality over time, a new report has found. The answer for cutting carbon emissions is to get the right balance of private and public transportation along with infrastructure developed to sustain the mix, according to the International Transport Forum (ITF), a think tank within the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The ITF evaluated the potential impact of transport policies on urban carbon

The Slovak Finance Ministry has confirmed that it has earmarked two projects for which it will apply to the EU for funds from the newly created European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI). European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker recently announced the creation of the US$26.2 billion EFSI fund as part of EC's $388 billion three-year investment plan to boost Europe's struggling economy. The two projects for which Slovakia plans to apply for funds from EFSI are the completion of the construct

Construction work started in November on the last part of the Trans-Sahara Highway connecting the Algerian capital Algiers to the Nigerian capital and port Lagos.

Changes to the third stage of the planned WestConnex motorway have been announced by Duncan Gay, Roads Minister of Australia’s New South Wales state. The motorway tunnel will be 8km, around 1km longer than initially announced under the US$9.7 billion WestConnex project of 33km of new roads around the city of Sydney. The changes are not likely to cost more, according to the NSW government. The third stage would cover the route between Haberfield and St. Peters and be constructed between 2018 and 2023.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is approving a loan worth US$105 million for Paraguay. The loan will cover work along San Juan Nepomuceno -route 6- road. The bank recently approved USD 150mn for Paraguay's national development agency AFD, as well as other loans to support small and medium size companies and improve roads across the country.

A new report from IDTechEx Research highlights the value of electric vehicle range extenders. This business segment could be worth some $125 billion. The new IDTechEx Research report “Range Extenders for Electric Vehicles 2015-2025” analyses and forecasts options and trends for range extenders in all applications. The report highlights that over $125 billion will be spent on this technology by 2025. Recent developments for the sector include specialist three cylinder engines and gas turbines as range ext

In Serbia construction work is on track for the Zemun-Borca road project. The new road link should be open to traffic by the end of 2014. The cost of the project has not been revealed however. Some stretches of the new link are already being used unofficially, by pedestrians.