News

Köster and Baresel have been awarded the contract for the construction of the 4.2km long Hirschhagen tunnel in the German federal state of Hesse. Since the contract worth around US$ 335.14 million (€247mn) has been signed, the construction of what will be the longest road tunnel in Hesse could start in spring 2013. The Hirschhagen tunnel is part of the A44 motorway between Kassel and Eisenach. If all goes as planned, the tunnel is due to be opened for traffic at the beginning of 2018.

The National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) in Colombia has opened a tender process for the first four out of 30 fourth generation road projects in the South American country. A total of US$24.75 billion (COP 44tn) is to be invested in the projects. The pre-qualified bidders will be known in around six weeks. The contracts will be awarded in September. The fourth generation road projects will be located in Costa Caribe, Valle del Cauca and Cundinamarca. They include the 164km Caqueza-La Calera-Sopo corridor, t

Algerian transport minister Amar Ghoul says the stretch of the East-West Highway linking Constantine to Annaba via Skikda will be completed by summer 2013. The works will be completed in stages, with the first part, between Constantine and Skikda, set to be operational by March 2013 at the latest. Once the stretch is fully completed, users will be able to travel from Tlemcen to Annaba via the East-West Highway. Ghoul said that all the financial and technical constraints that had hindered progress of the wor

The Green Party in Sweden has proposed a motion to ban the use of mobile phones while driving. MP Stina Bergström of the Green Party says two-thirds of Swedes are in favour of some form of ban. She has highlighted the fact that Sweden is the only EU country that does not have limitations on mobile phone use while driving.

A major programme that will boost road safety and transport efficiency is now being developed jointly in seven European cities. The authorities in Bordeaux, Copenhagen, Eindhoven-Helmond, Newcastle, Thessaloniki, Verona and Vigo have joined forces with the aim of improving road safety, increasing energy efficiency and reducing level of congestions for road transport. The city authorities will work along with industrial partners to jointly implement three cooperative services for forward collision warnings,

Spain continues to lower its road fatality rate, with 2012 being the 9th consecutive year in which crash-related deaths have been reduced. There were 1,304 fatalities on Spain’s roads during 2012, a drop of 180 compared with the previous year. The number of accidents involving pedestrians has also been reduced although the number of accidents involving motorcyclists was similar to the previous year. Of concern is that the fact that cyclist fatalities increased. Of those vehicle occupants killed, 22% were no

Fiat Industrial achieved a 6.2% rise in revenues and trading profit in excess of US$2.71 billion (€2bn) during 2012 – an increase of 23.3% over 2011. Revenues in 2012 totalled €25.8 billion, as continued robust growth for agricultural equipment is said to have more than compensated for weaker trading conditions in other businesses. Trading profit was €2,079 million, up €393 million over 2011, with trading margin improving 1.2% to 8.1% on the back of what Fiat Industrial said was continued strong performance

The American parking industry has teamed up with U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) to back a government initiative to expand electric vehicle charging stations in the workplace. The International Parking Institute (IPI) has been named a founding ambassador in the US DoE’s Workplace Charging Challenge, a new initiative of the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge, announced by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu at the recent Washington Auto Show’s Public Policy Day. The Workplace Charging Challenge will support the expans

The Spanish government through its Ministry of Works has at least ten road construction projects worth a combined value of US$809.37 million (€600mn) ready for tendering. The investment is widely reported as being much-needed at a time when the sector is undergoing hardship due to the downturn in awarded work, and the sharp fall in tendering levels in 2012. Around five of the projects are said to be ready for immediate tendering. The biggest tender in terms of budget is worth €230 million and involves two p

Delcan has been awarded the International Road Federation’s (IRF) 2012 Global Road Achievement Award (GRAA) for quality management services on the Maryland Intercounty Connector project. The award was shared with the project owner, the Maryland State Highway Administration. A multi-disciplinary engineering, planning, management and technology firm, Delcan said the Award’s judges made their decision after looking at the technical quality, risk and cost control, of the Maryland Intercounty Connector (MIC) pr

Brazil motorway concessionaire Arteris, formerly OHL Brasil, could spend up to US$2.26 billion (BRL 4.5bn) by 2017, instead of an initially planned BRL 3.5 billion. The company is to turn Serra do Cafezal (Rodovia Regis Bittencourt) and BR-101 in Rio de Janeiro into dual carriageways, in addition to Autopista Fluminense and Autoposta Litoral Sul. Arteris says it has a BRL 1.8 billion loan from national development bank BNDES to help with its investments. However, the company says it plans to raise some BRL

Portuguese road authority Estradas de Portugal will receive US$1.05 billion (€781mn) from the state budget in 2013. As part of this, an agreement for a €238 million loan has already been signed with state secretary Maria Luis Albuquerque.

A key event is planned in Brussels that will focus on developing innovative solutions aimed at improving road infrastructure. The first Road Infrastructure Innovation Expo will be held in Brussels on 4-6th June 2013 and this event falls within the scope of the Infravation programme. The call for exhibitors will be open until 15th March 2013. The research fields in focus will address the theme of “Advanced and Innovative Construction and Maintenance”. The event is intended to raise awareness of Infravation a

A series of measures carried out in Northern Germany have had a notable effect on improving road safety. The latest data available reveals that in 2012, the number of people killed in road crashes dropped by 17% compared with the previous year for the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Tougher police enforcement on speeding is reckoned to be a major factor in reducing North Rhine-Westphalia’s road fatality rate to 526, compared with 634 in 2011. The police data shows that the tougher enforcemen