News

The Spanish Road Association (AEC) has published a study detailing the condition of the country’s road network. The report highlights the condition of road infrastructure and sets out replacement requirements for safety features such as signage, safety barriers and lighting. The technicians have reviewed and rated some 3,000 sections of road, which were randomly selected from both the State Highway Network and local networks. The report includes for the first time a Territorial Status Indicator or weighted

The latest data available through Pan European safety body TISPOL reveals that road fatality levels have reduced in the Dublin Region in recent years. However, the information shows that pedestrians are still at risk. Since 2008, almost 40% fatal road traffic collisions involve pedestrian fatalities. A Casualty Reduction campaign has been run in the Dublin Region to tackle the problem. A key police strategy has been to improve pedestrian awareness of the dangers. Chief Superintendent Aidan Reid, head of Dub

The European Commission is allocating the first portion of funds dedicated to the EU transport network. This first tranche is worth some €12 billion. The funds will go towards innovation, inter-modality and inter-operability. CEF, the Connecting Europe Facility, will allocate €26 billion in the period from 2014 to 2020 for transport infrastructure.

Work is underway in Sri Lanka on a new bridge spanning the Kelani River. The Japan International Cooperation Agency is supplying funding worth some US$344.4 million for the bridge project, which is intended to improve transport connections to and from capital Colombo. The project is facing design challenges as the river is prone to flooding. As a result the design of the bridge features a thick deck and short towers, but without any piers. The 380m long structure will carry six lanes of traffic, with three

Plans are in hand for a new link to Leeds Bradford International Airport in the UK. WSP and Parsons Brinckerhoff have been appointed by the Department for Transport (DfT) to carry out a study that will examine connectivity options to Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBIA). A Treasury report, Investing in Britain’s Future, has identified LBIA as one of six road congestion hotspots that required further feasibility studies. The study team undertake research to identify and appraise potential intervention

Police enforcement actions in Europe against trucks and buses have helped boost road safety and arrest criminals. One week long operation resulted in 4,400 trucks being removed from the road network due to dangerous defects. The action followed checks of more than 137,000 trucks across 26 countries and was co-ordinated by TISPOL, the European Traffic Police Network. The operation saw police carrying out a wide range of safety inspections that focused on speeding, alcohol, drugs, seatbelt use, tachograph inf

The tender process is underway in Brazil for the BR-153 Federal Highway, a project estimated to be worth US$1.89 billion. The BR-153 Belem Brasilia Highway route measures 625km long, connecting Anapolis, in Goias state, and Alianca do Tocantins, in Tocantins State. The tender is being handled by Brazil’s Land transport agency Agencia Nacional de Transportes Terrestres (ANTT) and the auction will take place on 23rd May 2014. The work involves widening the road within five years of the concession being grante

A US$415.45 million (IDR 4.7 trillion) loan has been agreed for a new 75.67km toll road as part of the Trans Java toll road project in Indonesia. Trans Marga Jateng, the 60:40 joint venture of Indonesian state-owned toll-road operator Jasa Marga and Central Java's state-owned infrastructure firm Sarana Pembangunan Jawa Tengah, has secured the 15-year syndicated loan from a group of lenders headed by state-owned bank Bank Mandiri. The new toll road will run from Solo to Semarang through Salatiga and Boyola

The government of Estonia’s capital city, Tallinn, is considering imposing a local tax on studded tyres or banning their use on Tallinn’s streets for three to five years. However, Tallinn Transport Department says it is unrealistic to hope that the revenue from the tyre tax would cover the cost of damaged roads. It believes a local tax should be high enough to encourage drivers to opt for radial tyres.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in the United States is offering demonstrations of its Dynatest 6875H Highway Friction Tester (HFT) to state departments of transportation (DOTs). The HFT is a self-contained testing vehicle that maps friction at one-foot intervals continuously along a pavement section. Agencies can use friction data provided by the HFT for both network-level and project-level applications. Continuous friction testing can improve agencies' ability to measure friction through inte

The cost of building a bridge across the Kerch Strait between the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea and the Taman Peninsula of Russia's Krasnodar Krai may be double the initial forecast, according to Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov.

Plans are in hand for a new toll road in Indonesia. The 300km toll road will link industrial zones in Semarang (Central Java) and Surabaya (East Java) through the Tuban, Lamongan, and Gresik industrial estates in East Java.

Work to widen the King Fahd Causeway in Saudi Arabia is commencing shortly. The US$533.3 million project will take five years to complete. The work involves building two islands of 400,000m2 apiece and featuring some 48 two way lanes so as to be able to process 4,000 vehicles/hour as well as waiting areas for trucks and buses.

International interest is strong in tenders opening in Colombia for the construction and management of 1,146km worth of highways. These form part of a package for 10 projects known as Autopistas para la Prosperidad, worth some US$4.75 billion in all. OHL has expressed an interest in the Autopista al Mar 2 and Autopista al Rio Magdalena 1 highway projects, which have been valued at around $1.9 billion.