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Delay for tenders on key Colombian highways
April 28, 2014
The tender process has been extended for three highway concession packages in Colombia, according to Business News Americas. The country's national infrastructure agency (ANI) has extended the bid deadlines for the Pacífico 2 (Bolombolo-La Pintada), Pacífico 3 (La Pintada-La Virginia) and Río Magdalena 2 (Remedios-Puerto Berrío) projects. The three highway concessions are worth a total of US$1.2 billion and form part of Colombia’s Autopistas para la Prosperidad highway programme. ANI opted to delay the tend
Hanoi city to benefit from ring road
April 28, 2014
Plans have been put forward for a new ring road around the Vietnamese city of Hanoi. The project is expected to cost in excess of US$4 billion to construct and the road could be as much as 330km long.
Fatality fall for roads in Netherlands
April 25, 2014
The official data from Dutch statistics bureau, CBS, reveals a continued improvement in road safety in the country. The data available for 2013 shows a 12% drop in road deaths compared with the figures published for 2012. There were 570 road deaths in the Netherlands in 2013. The number of car occupants killed fell from 232 in 2012 to 193 in 2013, while the number of motorcyclists killed dropped from 56 in 2012 to 29 in 2013.
MOBA expanding by increasing its holding in Novatron
April 25, 2014
German equipment technology specialist MOBA is increasing its stake in the Finnish firm Novatron. MOBA Mobile Automation has acquired an additional 24% stake in the Finish excavator system manufacturer Novatron and now holds a 49% total share of the business. ”The steady market growth in Scandinavia, the successful cooperation during the last three years and a close cooperation with OEM customers“, explained David Shelstad, MOBA’s vice president, as the main reasons for MOBA’s decision to intensify the part
Volvo CE sales up 10% in Q1 2014
April 25, 2014
Volvo Construction Equipment says growth in mature markets is the biggest contribution to its 10% sales increase in the first quarter of 2014, compared to the same three months of last year. The first three months of this year saw improved earnings on the back of increased sales, deliveries and order intake. The period also saw the launch of a new range of Volvo CE Tier 4 Final/Stage IV compliant models.
EU must do more to cut car occupant deaths, say transport safety campaigners
April 25, 2014
Transport safety campaigners are calling on the European Union to accelerate progress on reducing the number of people killed in cars annually in the EU, as new research shows 12,345 car occupants died in 2012. The report into trends in car occupant safety, published today (29 April 2014) by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), claims that 900 lives could be saved every year in the EU if car manufacturers were required to fit seat-belt reminder sensors to front and rear passenger seats to help prev
ERF plans key 2014 transport symposium for Brussels in June
April 24, 2014
The ERF is making final preparations for its 2014 symposium event, which will be held on 18th June in Brussels. Titled “Future Road Infrastructure Challenges”, the event will be held at the EU Thon Hotel. Key topics will include; future road safety challenges, intelligent transport systems, financing, sustainability, innovation. The symposium is aimed at professionals in the roads sector wishing to gain additional knowledge in these key areas and wanting insight into the latest developments in terms of tech
Fierce competition for Toronto 407 ETR highway expansion contract
April 24, 2014
ACS of Spain and Ferrovial are competing for the contract to construct and exploit the second phase of expanding the 407 ETR highway in Toronto, Canada – one of the world’s biggest toll highways. Ferrovial has been managing the 407 ETR highway since 1999 and secured the first phase of its expansion. Currently, ACS and Ferrovial lead two of the three groups invited to present bids for the second phase of the expansion. The third group is headed by Canada's SNC Lavalin, which is Ferrovial's current partner i
Large-scale Australian trial of all-seeing truck driver hazard warning system
April 24, 2014
In Australia, New South Wales state government agency Transport for NSW is to conduct a large-scale trial of a system that ‘sees’ around corners and over the crest of hills, warning truck drivers of hazards up to 1km away. The trial of the Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) technology will run for five years, using 95 MK4 anti-collision devices provided by Cohda Wireless communicating with roadside hardware on a dedicated 5.9GHz frequency. The first phase will launch in mid-2014, with 30 v
Netherlands A27 motorway to undergo €808 million widening
April 24, 2014
A 47km stretch of the A27 motorway between Breda and Utrecht in the Netherlands is to be widened at a cost of €808 million. The project will also include the construction of a second bridge with four lanes across the river Merwede at Gorinchem. The road widening works aim to reduce traffic congestion. Due to begin in 2019, the project will take around ten years.
Chinese investment in infrastructure
April 24, 2014
Three of China’s provinces, Jiangsu, Shanxi and Sichuan, have announced plans to invest in infrastructure expansion. Jiangsu Province has set an impressive infrastructure budget. Some US$11.38 billion has been earmarked for transportation infrastructure projects during 2014. Of the total, $4.53 billion will be invested into road construction projects, while some $454.8 million will be targeted at the construction of civil airports.
Indonesia’s road network continues to grow
April 24, 2014
Indonesia’s road network is growing at a healthy pace, though further expansion is required to meet demand. At the end of 2013, the total length of Indonesia’s national road network was 38,750km. This marks a significant increase from the total of 34,628km recorded in 2004. Meanwhile the total length of the country’s road network has increased to from 373,523km in 2004, to 508,968km in 2013. Total toll road length in Indonesia has increased from 595km in 2004 to 784 km in 2013. A further 329km of toll roads
ARTBA highlights risk of deficient bridges in US and need for investment
April 24, 2014
Data from a new government report show that if all the structurally deficient bridges in the United States were placed end-to-end, it would take 25 hours to cross them while driving at 100km/h. The total distance is around 2,500km, roughly the distance between Boston and Miami. The Washington, DC-based American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is highlighting these findings in a new analysis of US bridge conditions. ARTBA has a list of the top 250 structurally deficient US bridges, state r
Latvia announces plans to upgrade 300 road bridges by 2020
April 23, 2014
The Latvian Ministry of Transport plans to spend more than €135 million upgrading 300 road bridges across Latvia by 2020. According to the Ministry, Latvia's national road network includes only 196 bridges that are in good condition and 223 bridges in a satisfactory condition. As much as 55% of all 943 bridges in Latvia are said to be in poor or very poor condition.
Duha and Salini Impregilo to build Slovakia D1 motorway stretch
April 23, 2014
Slovak national motorway company NDS has chosen the consortium consisting of fellow Slovak construction company Duha and Salini Impregilo of Italy as the winner of the public procurement tender to build a 13km stretch of the D1 motorway. The Lietavska Lucka-Visnove-Dubna Skala stretch of Slovakia’s D1 includes the 7.5km long Visnove tunnel and is a tender worth nearly €410 million. It is expected that Skanska and Doprastav, which were excluded from the competition, will appeal against NDS' tender award dec