News

Tomorrow's Road and Infrastructure Monitoring and Management (TRIMM) conference is being held in Brussels on October 23rd-24th 2014. The TRIMM event will be located at the Diamant Centre in Brussels, Belgium. This meeting is being organised in conjunction with the European Road Profile User's Group (ERPUG), which has objectives that fit with the TRIMM project. The event will be composed of a mix of presentations from TRIMM and ERPUG. ERPUG will also organise an exhibition and a get-together event includ

In the UK Mott MacDonald has been reappointed as support service provider by the Highways Agency (HA). The agreement covers the centralised maintenance depot terminal equipment (CMDTE) system. The consultancy will manage the on-going operation of the system which supports the HA’s emergency roadside telephones (ERT) placed along the motorway and trunk road network in England. CMDTE is the back office system that monitors and records faults with approximately 7500 ERTs. The project aims to maintain syste

In Ethiopia plans are in hand for a series of major road projects. The Ethiopian Government has set out a programme of road building contracts to expand the country’s transportation network. The Addis Ababa City Roads Authority (AACRA) intends to build 600km of roads in the 2014/2015 fiscal year. This will extend Ethiopia’s road network from 4,671-5,275km. However AACRA still requires some £189.5 million to complete this project. So far AACRA has received US$305 million from Addis Ababa City Administration,

Prizes have been awarded by the American Road Transportation and Builders Association (ARTBA) in its 2014 student video competition. In Category Two for Post-Secondary, College or Graduate Students Aubury Erickson at Florida Polytechnic University won with the video: “Our Deficient Transportation Infrastructure”. Erickson, a freshman studying mechanical and industrial engineering in Lakeland, Florida, created an informative, four-minute animation outlining the importance the US transportation system to the

The American Road Transportation and Builders Association (ARTBA) has awarded prizes to winners of its student video competition. In Category One for Elementary, Middle or High School Students Ty Miller from Boyertown Area Senior High School was selected as the winner with his video: “Infrastructure: the Unsung Hero”. Miller, a 12th grade student made a thoughtful video underscoring that transportation infrastructure is the catalyst of the US economy. It discusses how the construction of bridges, canals, wa

In Bolivia three road tenders are now underway, part of a programme to upgrade the country’s network as only 10% of its road links are paved at present. The country’s road authority, ABC, opened these tenders which are intended to develop transport links in Bolivia’s Cochabamba and Santa Cruz departments. One project is for a US$85 million highway connecting Yapacani with Ichilo. Another project is for the $61 million 31km road link between Ivirgarzama and Puente Chimoré. The third tender is for the $69 mil

The Algerian Ministry for Public Works is calling for work on the 100km Bejaia to El Adjiba highway to be speeded up. Works on various bridges and junctions along the route are said to behind schedule. CRCC Sapta is constructing 17 of the bridges and junctions and other structures and ministry has said that the firm’s contract may be revised unless Minister the work is speeded up. The contractor has faced a series of technical issues that have caused delays to its work on the route. The quality of the work

The Nepalese Government is opening up an expression of interest process that will generate a shortlist to carry out the Kathmandhu-Terai/Madhes Fast Track Road project. The new Kathmandhu-Nijgadh expressway will run for 76km and its construction will involve building a twin tube tunnel 1.35km long and eight bridges. The project will be carried out under the PPP model and construction costs are likely to be in the region of US$844 million. Nepal may well look to neighbouring China for at least a portion of t

Poland is planning to enter seven transport projects to the Connecting Europe Programme, with these having a combined value close to €2.86 billion. Among the planned projects are the S61 express road between the Lithuanian border and Augustow. Meanwhile STRABAG and Budimex have formed a consortium that will construct a 41km stretch of the A4 highway in Poland. The section of the route runs from Rzeszów to Jarosław, in south-eastern Poland. The project is expected to take 14 months to complete and the contra

TISPOL operations focusing on truck and bus safety across Europe have yielded major safety benefits, as well as tackling criminal offences. The police work targeting trucks led to the discovery of nearly 1,200 illegal immigration and human trafficking offences. The action followed checks on nearly 140,000 trucks across 27 countries. A total of 44,859 offences were detected, including 421 drivers charged with alcohol and drug offences, 5,054 offences of exceeding the speed limit and 5,074 instances of driver

A new tunnel will connect the coastal town of Rize with Erzurum in Turkey. The 14.3km Ovit Tunnel is costing US$270.3 million to construct and is due to open to traffic in 2016. Opening the tunnel will reduce the journey time between Rize and Erzurum as the new route will cut the distance from 250-200km. The new route will also provide greater safety for drivers, particularly in winter time as conditions along the existing route can be difficult. So far around 12km of the tunnel has been constructed. Meanw

The Colombian Government is looking to cancel the contract for the construction of the La Linea tunnel. This project has already been beset by an array of problems since it was first conceived and now looks set to be further delayed. Work was supposed to have been 20% complete by March 2014, however a series of delays had put the project far behind schedule and by March 2014, only 12% of the work had been carried out. In June 2014, the project was supposed to be 50% complete, but work was in fact just 14% h

The Zambian Government is planning a major road infrastructure programme, in a bid to boost the country’s connectivity and help continue with its economic growth. The country has established the Link Zambia 8000 project, which is being carried out in a series of phases. The first phase will include the upgrade of some 2,290km of roads and could cost in the region of US$1.5 billion to implement. The World Bank is currently evaluating plans for the second phase of the project. Funding sources have yet to be r

In the UK, the construction business Connect Plus Services is implementing new practices that reduce the need for crossings of live carriageways. These practices are expected to save the lives of road construction workers. Connect Plus Services is the company that has the contract to maintain, operate and upgrade the M25 motorway around London over a 30-year period. The contract is carried out on behalf of the Highways Agency. The firm has developed a new method of managing traffic approaching road construc