News

Between 10%-15% of all new cars sales in Finland will be electric car sales, according to the country’s VTT Technical Research Centre. In its new TransSmart programme, VTT says the percentages mean that around 15,000 electric cars would be sold a year by 2020. VTT researchers believe rechargeable hybrid cars will increase in popularity.

Balfour Beatty has won a €225 million (£184 million) motorway upgrade contract from the Highways Agency. A total of 27.3kms (17 miles) on the M60 and M72 will be upgraded. The work includes converting the carriageway between junctions 18 and 20 on the M72 to a four-lane motorway. The carriageway stretch between junctions 8 and 12 on the M60 will also be upgraded. Employing around 1,000, the work is due to begin this month (July 2014) and be completed by autumn 2017.

The island of Reunion is to benefit from a new coastal road route that will reinforce the country’s connectivity. Construction company Egis will act as prime contractor for those firms carrying out work on the project. The work will involve building viaducts and dams to make way for the new road and the construction companies involved in the project will also focus on issues including environmental engineering. Egis will handle the project management and other aspects of the work will include overall design

In the second half of 2014, the launch date for an expressway project connecting Sejong and Seoul will be announced by the South Korean government. The expressway is set to ease traffic congestion in the Jungbu and Gyeongbu motorways. The project will cost an estimated US$6.57 billion (KRW 6.7 trillion), with the expressway spanning 129kms. It is due for completion by 2022.

Peru’s capital Lima faces a huge US$50 billion gap in its highways and other infrastructure, according to an official from the Lima metropolitan municipality (MML). "According to the studies that we have carried out, Lima needs to invest US$50bn in infrastructure to ensure growth and to continue to attract investments," Arturo Delgado, MML's urban project advisor, was quoted as saying by local daily La República. Delgado stressed in the same article that investments should go towards constructing new road

Applications for this year’s International Road Federation (IRF) Global Road Achievement Awards (GRAA) had to be in by Monday 30 June 2014. GRAA is a one-of-a-kind competition to recognise innovative road projects and exemplary people that place the road industry at the forefront of worldwide social and economic development. The IRF views the awards as an important way to promote road innovation around the world and will make substantial efforts to see that the awarded achievements receive maximum wor

Fifteen bridges were destroyed and 144.7km of motorway damaged during the May 2014 floods in the Russian republic of Tyva, contributing to what authorities say is an infrastructure repair bill of €15.83 million (RUB 748.27 million. The Russian government is considering subsidies to the region worth €16.25 million in the short term. This will go towards meeting all types of flood damage costs. Meanwhile, the road fund for Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region is to receive €177.99 million (RUB 8.4 billion) in 201

France saw its road deaths rise by almost a third in May 2014 compared to the same month of last year, according to new figures from Sécurité Routière. A total of 258 people were killed on France's roads in May 2014, 63 (32.3%) more than in May 2013. During this period, the number of people injured rose by 10%, or by 20% if only those requiring hospital treatment are included. Sécurité Routière’s figures show the number of accidents only increased slightly in the analysed period, but they were more severe.

Bangladesh's government has contracted an undisclosed Chinese firm to construct the main part of its flagship Padma bridge project – the country’s biggest infrastructure works. Building the bridge's key component is expected to cost around US$2.58 billion (BDT 200 billion), including expenses for river training. Local firms have pledged to supply high-quality construction materials such as rod and cement to the Chinese firm.

A substantial plan for road maintenance has been established by Transport Quebec in Canada. The 2014-2016 roadwork plan sets out works needed to provincial roads on Montreal Island. The work is worth some US$1.23 billion (C$1.34 billion) and involves repairing existing road infrastructure. Meanwhile a further $78.85 million (C$85.9 million) will be spent on new roads. The plans call for some 74 work sites in all, with 244 structures to be replaced or repaired. Under the plan, a total of 11,345 jobs will be

In Bolivia plans are in hand for a new highway that will help improve trade and transport in the country. The highway is costing close to US$180 million and will be constructed by Chinese contractor Nuclear Industry Nanjing Construction Group. The highway will be close to 75km long, connecting Cochabamba with Oruro.

A demolition contractor used 180kg of explosives to bring down an old bridge structure in the US state of Mississippi. The Big Ridge Road Bridge in D’Iberville was demolished as part of a project as part of a US$41 million project to construct a new interchange. Work on the interchange is expected to be complete in 2015. The work is being carried out for the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

A study carried out by research company Transport and Mobility in Belgian capital Brussels shows that if more drivers switch from cars to motorcycles, congestion will be reduced significantly. The study investigated the effects of increasing the percentage of motorcycles to traffic flow using a stretch of road used by commuters driving into Brussels, which is one of Europe’s most congested cities. The research team evaluated traffic flow as well as air quality. Using sensors placed along the route, and meas

The redirective capabilities of the latest safety barrier systems can prevent deaths and serious injuries in the event of unforeseen incidents. Sudden tyre failures can be particularly risky with regard to heavy trucks travelling at high speeds on highways. However effective barrier selection can ensure cross-over crashes are avoided, reducing the risk of crashes causing catastrophic deaths and injuries, as this video from the UK reveals.

An improvement in road safety has been revealed in the Czech Republic. Data from the Czech Transport Ministry shows that the country’s road death toll dropped by 12% for 2013 compared with the previous year. There were 583 road deaths within 24 hours of road crashes in the country during 2013, with 654 deaths within 30 days of a crash. On average 63 people/million are killed in road crashes in the Czech Republic, which is higher than the EU average of 52 deaths/million of population.. This places the Czech