News

Papua New Guinea will receive an extra US$126.5 million from the World Bank (WB) via its international development association to rehabilitate and maintain the nation’s roads, particularly in coastal provinces. Another $30.5 million is to be provided by the Papua New Guinea government to supplement the projects of the Works Department. The 50km East Coast road in Milne Bay will be upgraded first, with other roads to be identified later. The project covers paid employment for communities who are keen on roa

FTA Ireland (FTAI) says it would like to see proposed new national traffic laws matched with an increased resource for roadside enforcement by the Gardai. The response from the FTAI follows the announcement of The Road Traffic No.2 Act 2013, (introduced to improve safety levels on Irish roads) outlined by minister for transport, tourism and sport Leo Varadkar. The new traffic laws will include roadside impairment tests for drug driving; higher penalty points for speeding, mobile phone use and not wearin

A total of €13 billion has been secured for investments in Serbian road and other infrastructure projects, according to Serbia’s president and minister of transport, Velimir Ilic. President Ilic said that the funding will be used for construction of the road Corridor 11, between Belgrade and Pozega, the continuation of works between Pozega to Boljare in Montenegro, and the connection of Valjevo with Corridor 11, including further works through Ljubovija and Bratunac. He also said that the multi-million eur

The VDMA has given an optimistic 2014 performance forecast for the German construction equipment and building material machinery industry. Compared to the previous year, industry turnover declined slightly in 2013 by 6% to €11.7 billion. But incoming orders for construction equipment are said by the VDMA to have risen by 7% in 2013, compared to 2012. The VDMA predicts a 5% turnover rise in 2014, compared to the previous 12 months. “We can look back on a satisfactory business year overall; given all the

UK drivers are being urged to take a break and enjoy their food away from their vehicles, as road safety charity Brake and Direct Line reveal more than six in ten (62%) have eaten at the wheel in the past year. Further alarming figures revealed that three in ten (29%) unwrapped food themselves at the wheel - a telling symptom, says Brake and Direct Line, of busy lifestyles putting lives at risk. Studies have suggested eating a meal at the wheel increases your risk of a devastating crash as much as talking

The provincial council for Vizcaya in the Basque Country, northern Spain, has, via the company Interbiak, tendered the construction of the Ermua bypass, aimed at easing traffic on the busy N-634. The tender budget is €89.35 million and work is scheduled to start in summer 2014, with a scheduled completion date in 2017. The new road stretch is expected to be used daily by 9,000-12,000 vehicles. Part of the road will be a tunnel and part will be overground, creating two contracts in the tender.

Thirty-six towns in Germany’s Ruhr region have presented the results of a four-year project in cooperation with the Nokia subsidiary HERE to reduce the environmental damage, noise pollution and inconvenience caused by trucks using unsuitable roads. This includes roads that are too narrow and those that pass through low speed zones. The towns have specified preferential routes for trucks in their area in a database that is accessible to all navigation software manufacturers.

Algeria is to invest close to US$55 billion (DZD 4.3 trillion) on developing road and motorway infrastructure from 2015-19. Farouk Chiali, the Algerian public works minister, said that during the 2015-19 period, said the huge investment would include road bridges and other civil engineering structures. Among projects to be carried out during the period include starting work on building the $8.95 billion 1,000km Hauts-plateaux motorway. The contract for building the motorway will be awarded to Algerian comp

FM Conway, the leading infrastructure services company, has won a major road maintenance contract with the south London, England borough of Lewisham worth up to €25.47 million (£21 million). The contract is worth around €3.63 million per annum and will run for five years with an option for a two-year extension. The deal, which begins on 1 April 2014, will see FM Conway deliver highway maintenance and planned road works throughout the borough including emergency works, gully cleansing, winter services a

Less than 20% of the announced urban mobility projects in Brazil have their work under way or have been concluded. The low volume is said to highlight the difficulty of the public sector providing rapid responses to the country's infrastructure needs. The latest report on the PAC 2 accelerated growth programme shows that just 47 of the 229 projects with federal investment have some work in progress, with only seven of the projects having been inaugurated, with the rest still in tender phases or having feas

IronPlanet, an online marketplace for buying and selling used heavy equipment, has surpassed one million users who have registered to view equipment for sale and participate in online auctions at IronPlanet.com. “This is an exciting milestone for us because it demonstrates that more than one million users recognize IronPlanet as a trusted marketplace for buying and selling equipment,” said Greg Owens, CEO, IronPlanet. “We’ve attracted these users because of our ongoing dedication to innovation, customer se

TRL provided a rapid response when asked for help as part of the investigation of the recent appearance of a Dene Hole in the central reservation of the M2 in Kent, southeast England. Within a few hours of being asked for assistance, TRL was able to mobilise a team to be onsite to provide two coring rigs and staff to undertake investigations of the carriageway in one lane either side of the hole, between junctions 5 near Sittingbourne and 6, near Faversham, to establish its integrity. The carriageway is co

The Netherlands’ transport sector is expected to see thousands of empty positions as the ageing of the population causes a large number of retirements, according to the Dutch benefits issuing agency UWV. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 5,000 until 2018, but an additional 36,000 positions will become free each year from 2015 onwards which is 11,000 more per year than the levels of 2013. The increases are expected to be biggest when the national retail and construction industries improve i

The Indian government has announced an 18% cut in transport sector spending in the 2014/2015 fiscal year. However, the government will allocate a higher proportion of the sector’s budget to complete transport projects in India’s north eastern states. Meanwhile, vehicle producers are giving discounts to boost India sales due to oversupply in the sector.

Work has begun on the Tan Vu-Lach Huyen Bridge located in Hai Phong, a northern port city of Vietnam. The 5.4km long and 16m wide bridge is expected to be completed by early-2017. The structure’s total construction cost combined with the cost of a 10km road leading to it will be US$562.28 million (VND 11.85 trillion).