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Work is now starting on the road links that will connect to the new Mersey Gateway Bridge, close to the UK city of Liverpool. The first work is being carried out at Junction 12 of the M56 in Runcorn, with workers commencing site clearance at the roundabout where the motorway joins the Weston Point Expressway (A557). This will take around six months to complete, with much of the work being carried out during off-peak traffic times so as to minimise congestion and this portion of the project should be finishe

The Russian authorities are further developing plans for the new bridge that will span the Kerch Strait. The bridge is now expected to cost some US$6.1 billion to construct and the completion date is expected in 2018. The work will be overseen by the Russian road authority Avtodor. This will be the first bridge crossing of the Kerch Strait since a short-lived structure was erected in the 1940s. The design will have to cope with severe winter weather and the project will be challenging technically.

An improved highway link is set to boost transport connections between Lithuanian capital Vilnius and the city of Utena. The 72.5km highway will be carried out as a PPP project. The Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications has said that the current link will be resurfaced so as to provide an improved highway for drivers and the work looks set to be finished in three years. The contract will also involve a 10 year maintenance programme once the construction work is complete. The resurfacing work w

The organisers of the Plantworx 2015 construction equipment event in the UK are bullish for the success of the exhibition. With nine months to go before the show opens its doors, 65% of the stand space has been sold already with 140 exhibitors booked. This will be the second Plantworx exhibition and is taking place in nine months’ time at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire, UK. Meanwhile only 25% of the space in the working demonstration areas now remains. Exhibitors booked in so far include A &Y Equi

The Kenyan Government has ambitious plans for road infrastructure development. The country’s new road expansion programme will be funded in part by commercial banks and other financial institutions, which will provide some US$2.93 billion. This will help pay for the three year road construction programme. The Kenyan Government aims to negotiate for loans from financing institutions with the funds then being provided to contractors to construct and maintain roads. The first phase of the programme will be to

Official figures reveal a worrying rate of road crashes within Latin America’s Andean Community of Nations (CAN). The data shows that in 2013, 13,479 people died in vehicle crashes in the CAN group, which includes Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. A further 141,175 people were injured in the CAN nations in 2013, while there were 347,018 crashes, an increase of 0.2% over the figures for 2012. Ecuador saw a particularly poor safety record during this period with its number of crashes increasing by 18.1%. T

The tender process for a major new road project in Colombia is due to open shortly. The project has an estimated cost of some US$621 million and will be constructed under a public private partnership model. The 32km Mulalo-Loboguerrero road project has been approved by Colombia's National Planning Department (DNP). The Tender process is opening in October 2014, with the contracts expected to be ready by December 2014 and construction work starting in 2016 then finishing in 2021.

Work is now being carried out on a new expressway around the Chinese city of Shenzhen. This new route will form part of the Pearl River Delta expressway network and will also connect with 12 other national highways and expressways. The 76km expressway is due to open to traffic in 2018. The project is complex as it will include 12 tunnels and 82 bridges, with the overall cost estimated at US$4.35 billion.

Support for the development of the Honduran highway network is coming from the US. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US Government body, is currently hoping to hire a consultancy that will be able to advise the Honduran Government on developing its highway concession programme, reports Business News Americas. The winner of this process will assist the Honduran infrastructure and public services ministry (Insep) and the superintendent of public-private partnerships in managing road concessions. K

A major programme of highway development is being seen in China's Jiangxi Province. The rate of highway construction is being increased and the authorities are aiming to boost the network to a total of 5,000km by the end of 2015 and 6,000km by the end of 2016. At present there are six major highway projects underway in Jiangxi Province, with the total cost of these estimated at US$4.53 billion. The six major highway projects have a total length of 395km and include the Shangrao-Wannian, Xiushui-Pingjiang (J

A Pan-European police operation enforcing the use of seatbelts has been carried out recently. The aim of the programme has been to encourage vehicle occupants to wear seatbelts and increase their chances of survival in the event of an impact. Despite the well proven safety benefits of seatbelt use, some vehicle occupants still opt not to wear them, giving such excuses as discomfort from the seatbelts or concern that they may crumple clothes. There is research linking the risk taking behaviour of those drive

Serbia’s Ministry of Construction has plans to rebuild and upgrade some 1,000km of roads between 2014 and 2018. The work is expected to cost €300 million. Serbia’s Government is looking to the EU for the ratification of a previously discussed loan worth €300 million. This loan has been approved by the World Bank, the EBRD and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The money will be used to fund road rebuilding work, with one of the first projects to tackle being the improvement of the Zrenjanin-Zabalj route.

The authorities in Tasmania are planning a major programme of road rebuilding work that will boost transport links. Worth some US$684.4 million (A$733 million) the budget includes the $184 million (A$197 million) required to carry out the planned upgrade to the Midland Highway. A further $3 million (A$3.2 million) will be used to establish an independent body called Infrastructure Tasmania that will provide expert advice on the infrastructure needs of the state such as ports and major roads.

Funding has been found to finance India’s infrastructure investment into National Highway 1 in Jammu & Kashmir. A deal by ICICI Bank and Srinagar Sonmarg Tunnelway is providing the necessary loans for the Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri road and tunnel link. The project involves building a 6km road and 6.5km tunnel and the concession deal also involves maintenance and operation of the link. Srinagar Sonmarg Tunnelway, is a 49:51 joint venture combined of IL&FS Transportation Networks and Soma Enterprises.