News

Design and construction work is commencing on a 47km highway project in Qatar. The design and construction portions of the US$1.17 billion project will be handled by Qatar bin Oman Trading and Contracting (Qatar bin Omran) and QDVC. The 47km highway project includes the construction of a 320m cut-and-cover tunnel, 17 bridges and underpasses as well as six viaducts. The project forms the second phase of Qatar’s 200km New Orbital Highway. The work is expected to take 36 months to complete and construction act

Intertraffic Amsterdam, the trade event for infrastructure, ITS traffic management, safety and parking strong success for its 22nd edition, run from the 25th to 28th March. Close to 800 exhibitors from 43 countries presented their products and services to a worldwide audience of nearly 27,000 traffic professionals. The Smart Mobility Centre programme was more comprehensive than ever with over 100 free-to-attend activities. IntertrafficLive was introduced, a live stream programme straight from the exhibition

The 19th Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey published today reports that the estimated cost to get England and Wales’ local road network back into reasonable condition has increased to €14.47 billion (£12 billion) from €12.06 billion (£10.5 billion) in 2013. For the second year in a row, more than two million potholes (2,010,749) were filled in England and Wales over the course of the previous year.

China’s Hebei province plans to spend US$3.47 billion (CNY 21.6 billion) in 2014 to build and maintain rural and normal trunk roads. Rural roads will receive CNY 7.5 billion, normal trunk roads CNY 9.1 billion and road network optimisation CNY 5 billion. Meanwhile, the Chinese city of Yibin will this year invest more than $1.61 billion (CNY 10 billion) in transport projects. During 2014, Yibin plans to spend a total of $6.59 billion (CNY 40.7 billion) on 157 major projects. They include 58 basic infrastruc

The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is challenging students to produce a short video that explores the various logistical, financial and structural issues facing the US transportation infrastructure. The association is now seeking submissions for the fourth annual Student Video Contest. Sponsored by ARTBA’s Research and Education Division (RED), the competition provides a forum for young Americans to tackle an issue of their choosing, with most likely to focus on how transportat

Canadian transport engineering firm Delcan has accepted an offer to join North American engineering giants Parsons. In an open email letter to Delcan clients, company CEO Jim Kerr said, “Following many months of consideration and detailed strategic discussions, our Board and shareholders have embraced this offer. We have now joined one of the premier professional engineering companies in the world. “Parsons is a global firm serving more than 2,000 projects through more than 100 offices around the world. A

A new stretch of the A7 road in Spain has opened. Costing €190 million, the 6.1km stretch runs between Puntalon and Carchuna, and is said to offer an alternative to the “endless traffic jams” on the Torrenueva crossing. In early-summer 2014, another new A7 stretch called ‘Taramay-Lobres’ will open, while a third stretch of the A7 is set to open in December, linking the municipalities of Castell de Ferro and Castillo de Banos (Polopos).

CNSR, the French road safety council, could include in its recommendations to the Ministry of the Interior on 16 May 2014 lowering from 16 to 15 the age at which people can drive accompanied by a licensed driver. This could coincide with an increase from 3,000 to 4,000 the minimum number of kilometres one must drive before getting a permit, increasing young driver experience, says CNSR.

A consortium headed by Odebrecht Transport that has Tucuman Engenharia, Goetze Lobato Engenharia and America Empreendimento is reported to be the favourite to land a project to widen PR-323 motorway in Brazil’s Parana state through a public-private partnership. Valued at US$3.41 billion (BRL 7.7 billion), the 30-year contract will involve 207kms of motorway.

Mott MacDonald has been awarded a €4 million, two-year contract to provide technical assistance to the European Commission's (EC) Directorate-General for Enlargement. The consultancy will support the coordination of socio-economic development interventions initiated and implemented by the EC, international financing institutions and bilateral donors in Western Balkans beneficiary countries as part of their Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) initiative.

The demolition of the Belgrave Flyover in the UK city of Leicester was carried out efficiently and effectively, within the strict time and safety guidelines set by the client. This aged structure was no longer able to meet traffic demands in the city and was removed by the specialist contractor AR Demolition. Drone footage provided an aerial view of the operation. The contractor subsequently won a number of industry awards for several of its demolition operations. This video clip is shown courtesy of Digger

The TRA 2014 event in Paris from 14th-17th April is a key event in the transportation calendar. This research conference is providing a forum that will bring together European stakeholders from all areas of transport and transport-related activities. The scope of the conference encompasses all modes of surface transport: road, rail, waterborne, urban transport, planning and mobility, as well as co-modality. The latest achievements in European research and the technological developments needed for coming dec

A contractor in China has completed an effective bridge demolition job efficiently and quickly. The pre-weakened structure was brought crashing into the river it spanned following one final push using the boom of an excavator. The defunct bridge collapsed in a controlled fashion without injury or inconvenience, allowing the rubble to be removed in a subsequent operation.