News

Plans are moving forward for a series of key highway projects in Poland. One project involves constructing three sections of the new southern ring road around Polish capital Warsaw. Building the 18.5km stretch that comprises the three sections is expected to cost in the region of €1.6 billion.

A Latin American Road Building Conference for contractors, equipment buyers and suppliers interested in the latest trends in road building technology and highway investment in the region will take place on October 20 2015 in Santiago, Chile, the day before CONEXPO Latin America 2015 opens. The new show, which will be held from October 21 2015 to October 24 2015 in Santiago, wants “education (to be) an important component of the CONEXPO show experience, extending the value of exhibits and networking opportun

Senior highway policymakers across Asia have been invited by Indonesian Minister of Public Works H.E. Djoko Kirmanto to send delegates to the “1st IRF Asia Regional Congress & Exhibition” which take place in Bali from November 17 to 19, 2014. Three plenary sessions will be reserved for contributions from country delegations, say the organisers. These are: The Asian Highway Network: an Agenda for Shared Regional Prosperity; The UN Decade of Action for Road Safety: and An Asia Progress Report. IRF will also

Jacobs Engineering Group has won the contract to upgrade Scotland’s A9 highway which runs from central Scotland to the far north coast, converting the route into a dual carriageway between Perth and Inverness, one of the busiest sections of the route. Jacobs said that the deal will be “one of the largest road infrastructure projects in Scotland’s history.” This is the second of three design contracts awarded for the project; and it covers 44km of the route including 3km of existing dual carriageway betwee

The United State is facing yet another national highway funding crisis as the country’s new fiscal year begins. Despite the fact that October 1 marked the beginning of America’s new financial year, Congress has still not passed or approved the funding for a new long-term surface transportation measure. This is really worrying the 31-member-strong Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) which is arguing that a “failure to act” will “lead to another self-imposed funding crisis that would undermine vital r

The European Commission has published proposals setting strict limits on exhaust emissions for off-highway machinery. This proposal has major implications for the construction machinery sector and would make the EU exhaust emissions limits the strictest in the world. There has been a call for swift reading of the regulation in Parliament and Council. This long-anticipated proposal for a revision of the directive 97/68/EC, covers exhaust emissions reduction for engines installed in non-road mobile machinery.

China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region says it is spending US$49.76 billion (CNY 307.7 billion) on 24 new expressways in 2014. Once completed, the expressways will cover 3,467km. On 26 September 2014, construction started on a 177km Hechi-Baise expressway, while the 92km Hechi-Du'an expressway is already in use. The Hechi-Du'an expressway has a 100km/hour speed limit.

A direct motorway between Austria’s capital, Vienna, and the Czech Republic capital, Prague, is not part of a new agreement on road connections between the two nations. The agreement formed by Austrian and Czech transport ministers Erwin Pröll and Antonin Prachar states that a four-lane A5 motorway will only go as far as Poysbrunn on the Austrian side, and will then continue with two lanes towards the Czech border. The overall road link is due to be completed in 2017.

Thailand’s government is planning to spend nearly US$25 billion in ten years from 2016 on overhauling Thailand’s road and rail transport infrastructure. A total of $24.74 billion (THB 800 billion) will be allocated by the Transport Ministry to the works which include developing inter-city highways, local roads and a comprehensive rail system. Work on the routes carried out by the Expressway Authority of Thailand will be included.

In Canada, a seven-lane temporary causeway bridge between downtown Montreal and Nuns' Island, initially scheduled to open by early 2015, has finished ahead of deadline and under budget. Initially, the cost of the key transport structure was estimated at US$111.89 million (CAD 125 million). The temporary bridge is being used by Montreal-bound vehicles initially, with the first users crossing on Monday (6 October 2014). A complete closure of the Champlain Bridge's all Montreal-bound lanes for two days was

East West Connect consortium has signed a contract with the Victorian government to deliver the US$6.99 billion (AUD 8 billion) East West Link toll road in Australia. The $4.62 billion (AUD 5.3 billion) partnership was agreed after the High Court rejected an application for an injunction to defer the deal. The project's winning design incorporates two 4.4km three-lane tunnels between CityLink and Hoddle Street. The consortium, which includes Lend Lease, Acciona, Capella Capital and Bouygues, has spent some

Seven transport infrastructure projects, including new roads and upgraded highways, will be launched in Vietnam before the end of 2014 after a US$433.35 million (VND 9.2 trillion) Government investment. The Ministry of Transport of Vietnam says a further 15 projects costing a combined VND 64.8 trillion will begin in 2015. The 2014 projects include a VND 2.3 trillion road upgrade project in Ha Nam Province in early-October 2014, to be followed by the construction of a bridge between Thai Binh and Ha N

In Mexico a consortium headed by Moto-Engil has won the contract to build and operate the 107km-long Tuxpan-Tampico highway. According to Business News Americas, the winning bid that included a works cost of US$260 million, a subsidy of $95 million and venture capital of $73 million. Mota-Engil will now have construct the 107km of highway from Tuxpan to Ozuluama, and then maintain and operate it for the next 30 years. The Tuxpan-Tampico highway links two of Mexico's busiest Gulf coast ports and will be the

The New York United Nations Climate Summit has prioritised four global transport initiatives as part of the eight actions areas that the summit has named as “critical for keeping global temperature increases to less than two degrees Celsius,” and the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI) has taken centre stage. UEMI wants cities with a specific target to ensure that electric vehicles make up 30% of their total urban vehicle population by 2030 at the latest. Joan Clos, UN-Habitat Executive Director us

Specialist demolition contractors working for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet have successfully brought down one truss span of the Old Ledbetter Bridge near Paducah. The bridge has been taking traffic across the Mississippi River since 1931. Boat traffic on the Tennessee River was halted for about 90 minutes by the U.S. Coast Guard. KYTC said there were several audible warning signals, then a countdown, followed by a flash and puff of smoke from the explosive charges. As sound of the explosion echoed a