News

IronPlanet, a leading online marketplace for used heavy equipment, has made a strong start to 2014, selling US$26.8 million in used heavy equipment and trucks during a global auction event held 28-31 January. The four-day auction included equipment listed in the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe. In total, 1,795 items were sold to over 1,000 buyers. Strong demand in the market was demonstrated by online bids placed from 78 different countries as well as from every US state and all 10 Canadian provinces.

Volvo Construction Equipment is posting optimistic financial results that show an increase in deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2013. The firm reports deliveries climbing by 9% as global markets show sign of improvement. A slowly recovering global market helped Volvo Construction Equipment round off 2013 with sales up 3% in the fourth quarter and improved market share, especially in compact equipment. When adjusted for currency movements net sales increased further – to 6%. These improved figures are due

Up to US$169.24 million (IDR 2.03 trillion) is needed to repair Indonesia’s roads damaged in floods in several parts of the country, according to Indonesia's Public Works Ministry. Of this, $42.33 million (IDR 510 billion) would be for temporary repairs on roads in South Sumatra, Java, North Sulawesi, Bengkulu, and Northeast Sulawesi, with the remaining funds required for permanent repairs. The ministry's Director General for Highways Djoko Murjanto added that concrete rigid pavement is being considered to

Auction firm Ritchie Bros reports strong performance for its online construction machinery marketplace, EquipmentOne, in the first year since the service was set up. The service is complementary to the firm’s unreserved auction business and provides an online marketplace for the sale of equipment. The company says it offers buyers and sellers a place in which to negotiate, complete and settle transactions in a safe and transparent environment. This was initially launched in early 2013 and had a full commerc

Grey ‘stealth’ speed cameras are set to be installed on busy stretches of UK motorways to target motorists driving above the 70mph limit, according to new Highways Agency (HA) plans. Parts of the M1, M25 and M6 will have the cameras, dubbed ‘stealth’ cameras by those opposing their introduction. Motorway speed cameras have in the past been situated primarily on stretches where roadworks were taking place. The cameras will appear on parts of ‘smart’ motorways and will allow traffic to flow more effectively a

In Paris, France US company Uber has launched UberPOP, a car-sharing service allowing private citizens who share their cars to be paid. The average price of the service is €12, from which the company takes a small commission. Candidates must have an at least three-year-old driving permit. Income from car-sharing will be declared to tax authorities. Drivers and clients are put in touch through a mobile application. UberPOP already offers in France car services with drivers, but Paris is the first city outsid

A major undersea tunnel project is planned for Malaysia. The George Town-Butterworth tunnel will be a 6.5km undersea link and this project is expected to cost in the region of US$1.88 billion to construct. The design of the link has yet to be finalised but the project will likely feature novel engineering concepts to deal with the challenges of the location. The Malaysian government agency Koperasi Staff CIDB (KoCIDB) and local firm Consortium Zenith BUCG (Zenith BUCG) have signed a memorandum of understand

A series of major project tenders are opening in Brazil. The Brazilian Government has announced five new road tenders to be launched in 2014. The highway sections run for a total distance of some 2,625km. This programme of works will lengthen the country’s highway network by some 2,282km, with the work costing an impressive US$7.39 billion in all. The roads include the BR-163, BR-364 and BR-153 in the Central West region, and the BR-476 stretch in the South, in addition to the Rio-Niteroi Bridge in Rio de J

Transnational collaboration on road infrastructure innovation is the aim of the ERA-NET Plus (EN Plus) Infravation event. The Infravation 2014 Call for this collaboration of 11 countries on road infrastructure innovation will be launched on 3rd March 2014. It will pool funding of some €9 million, of which one-third comes from the European Commission (EC). For the first time, the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will also contribute funding to an EN Plus Call however. This is because the FHWA sees th

The European Union is set to co-finance with over €2.2 million from the TEN-T Programme a series of studies aiming to help realise the European Electronic Toll Services (EETS) on a cross-border regional scale. The studies, selected for funding under the 2012 TEN-T Multi-Annual Programme, specifically cover the electronically tolled primary road network of seven Member States (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain) plus Switzerland (receiving no EU support). It aims to deploy EETS on th

In the United States, a US$1.4 billion transport package has been approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for funding highway interchanges, wider roads and new sidewalks in the Virginia state county. Of the total funding, $1.2 billion will come from the state transport law while the rest will be gathered from the county tax revenue and other sources. The Fairfax Transport Department has put close to 230 projects on a priority list.

Mexico's Secretariat for Transport and Communications (SCT) has released US$2.01 billion (MXN 27 billion) for road work tenders to be carried out in 2014. In total, $4.489 billion (MXN 60 billion) will be spent on such projects this year. As previously reported in World Highways, tenders for 13 projects covering work to repair, upgrade and widen over 2,000km of roads have already been revealed. Tenders being opened will also include building bridges and bypasses around congested urban areas. Key tenders in

Up to 35 fixed and five mobile radar devices are expected to be installed on Luxembourg’s roads in 2014 in order to boost safety. Jeannot Mersch, president of the association for victims to the road (AVR), has spoken out in favour of the introduction of more road safety technology. Mersch said that Luxembourg needs a sustainable traffic security system. In 2013 43 people were killed in Luxembourg road traffic accidents.

Plans are on track for the new Ohio River Bridge project in the US. Bilfinger Berger Global Infrastructure SIVAC has completed at acquisition of a 33.33% stake in this PPP project. The construction portion of the project will be handled through a joint venture between VINCI Construction Grand Projects and Walsh Construction. The PPP concession package involves designing, building, operating and maintaining a cable stayed bridge over the Ohio River. The work will also include constructing link roads and asso

Plans are on track for the new Ohio River Bridge project in the US. Bilfinger Berger Global Infrastructure SIVAC has completed at acquisition of a 33.33% stake in this PPP project. The construction portion of the project will be handled through a joint venture between VINCI Construction Grand Projects and Walsh Construction. The PPP concession package involves designing, building, operating and maintaining a cable stayed bridge over the Ohio River. The work will also include constructing link roads and asso