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Provisional resource consent allowing New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to construct a four-lane, 13km expressway linking Otaki and Peka Peka in Wellington has been granted by an Independent Board of Inquiry. The project is estimated to cost around US$203.41 million (NZD 250 million) and will take around 24 months to construct from 2016. The final draft decision is to be released by the board during February 2014. The Otaki-Peka Peka expressway is one of eight road projects that will link to form the $2

The fact that India is, according to the Planning Commission of India, investing US$1 trillion in its infrastructure as part of the current 12-year plan (2012 to 2017), means that next year’s third edition of the bC India international trade fair for construction, building material, and mining machinery and construction vehicles will become an even more vital industry showcase event. The Bauma/Conexpo show takes place from December 15 to 18, 2014 in the India Expo Centre in Greater Noida near Delhi, with t

Work on a key stretch of Colombia’s Ruta del Sol highway project is behind schedule, with the route now unlikely to open to traffic before 2017. The 21.6km section of the highway facing these delays will link Villeta and Guaduas in Cundinamarca. A key challenge is technical as the US engineering firm Gall Zeidler Consultants has warned Colombia’s infrastructure agency (ANI) that this section of the route is geologically unstable. The proposed route could be at risk from slippage and will need to be stabilis

Belgium’s authorities have released data showing a worrying lack of basic vehicular safety awareness amongst the country’s parents. The data shows that the police recorded 83,736 instances of children being in vehicles without wearing a seatbelt or appropriate safety restraint. Meanwhile the police also reported 2,961 instances of children being in vehicles without seating suitable to their stature. The Belgian authorities have increased the cost of the fine imposed for offenders from just €50 to €165, in a

A loan worth US$400 million will help fund construction of a new highway in Kyrgyzstan. The Eximbank of China is providing the loan to the Kyrgyzstan Government of Kyrgyzstan for a 20 year period, with a grace period of 11 years at an interest rate of 2%. The project is for the construction of the new North - South route. The project includes a 1.7km tunnel, which is expected to cost some $150 million.

A demolition contractor has carried out an explosive demolition on an overpass in Brazilian city, Rio de Janeiro. The demolition work is being carried out as part of the upgrades to the city’s port district in preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games. Around 1tonne of explosives were used to place charges at key points within the structure of the Perimetral overpass. The demolition work was successful and the structure was brought down safely without incident.

The Iranian authorities have announced plans to restart work on a coastal highway project. The project is expected to cost some US$83 million, with the Iranian Government shouldering $43 million of the investment required. When it is complete, the highway will connect the cities of Mashhad and Astara via Bojnord, Gorgan, Dari and Rash. Work on the Bojnord-Gorgan stretch is expected to complete and the highway to be open for traffic in the second quarter of 2016

The Government in Aruba in the Caribbean is giving its approval for its second PPP transport infrastructure project, the Watty Vos Boulevard. The start of the tender process for the project is planned for the first quarter of 2014. PwC is the transaction advisor for the Contracting Authority, while the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and local legal firm Sjiem Fat & Co are also part of the team. The project will cost some US$120 million and involves the construction of a new arterial road 2x2 around Oranje

Odebrecht has been awarded a concession for Brazil’s important BR-163 federal highway route. The 851km section of highway runs through Mato Grosso state and the deal is worth some US$2 billion, according to a report by Business News Americas. As part of its contract, Odebrecht will have to widen a 454km stretch of the route within five years and is also required to build nine new toll booths.

Odebrecht has been awarded a concession for Brazil’s important BR-163 federal highway route. The 851km section of highway runs through Mato Grosso state and the deal is worth some US$2 billion, according to a report by Business News Americas. As part of its contract, Odebrecht will have to widen a 454km stretch of the route within five years and is also required to build nine new toll booths.

Ethiopia is set to benefit economically from investment in a number of new key road links totalling over US$1 billion. The east African nation’s 218km Modjo-Hassan highway is expected to cost US$720 million to construct. The highway will be constructed in two stages. The first section of the route will stretch 93km from Modjo to Zeway and is expected to cost $350 million to complete. The second section of the highway will be 125km long and link Zeway with Hewassa and this stretch is estimated to cost $370

Colombia's national transport infrastructure agency ANI will auction 13 road projects with a combined value of more than US$7.87 billion (COP 15 trillion) in H1 2014, out of 40 planned. Nine of the scheduled auction projects have gone through the pre-qualification stage and will be definitely awarded in the first quarter of next year. In total, all 40 projects will involve investments of COP 47tn. The plan is to improve 8,000km of roads in the country. Four projects will be put through pre-qualification s

Preliminary data from Germany's Federal Statistics Office, Destatis, reveals an improving road safety situation in the country. The latest figures show that the number of people killed in road traffic crashes in Germany decreased by 283 or 10.3% to 2,466 in the first three quarters of 2013 compared to the same period in the previous year. The number of people injured in road crashes in the first three quarters of 2013 period fell by 5.3% to around 279,100. Meanwhile the overall number of crashes registered