News

The Punjab state government has approved a new national highway repair and maintenance budget of US $27 million (Rs 150 crore). Public works minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon said that the decision was taken at a “high-level” emergency meeting held earlier this month to review the way in which the Indian state is running it ongoing road construction and maintenance programme.

The number of Montreal’s bridges and tunnels in a “critical” condition has more than doubled during the past 12 months, says a shocking new report looking at the state of the city’s transport infrastructure. The new report, which came out this month, shows that 27 of the city’s 587 highway structures reached “critical condition” in 2011 compared with only 12 in 2010.

Major road development is underway in Azerbaijan at present, with network expansion needed to help capitalise on the country’s strong extraction industry. The country’s Ministry of Transport has said that 225km of roads have been built in the first half of 2012. This construction work has required investments of close to US$901 million.

The US Government is looking to ensure that unused funding for infrastructure projects will be used efficiently. Those projects that have stalled due to other issues may see existing funding reassigned to other infrastructure projects that are further ahead. The US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is making over US$470 million earmarked for projects

Strabag chief executive, Hans Peter Haselsteiner, has spoken of the need for the Group to respond to tougher future trading conditions after its half year 2012 earnings fell, as expected, substantially from 2011 levels. New figures published by the Austrian construction giants revealed that its EBITDA was € 16.14 million between

Manitou Group’s (MG) operating profit rose by 22% to €31 million in the first half of 2012, compared to €25 million over the same period of 2011. The France-headquartered Group also saw its 2012 first half year revenue increase by 20% to €672 million, having recorded €562 million revenue in the first six months of the previous year. Meanwhile, MG net income was up 40% to €21 million in the first half of 2012, from €15 million over the same period of 2011.

Concern is being expressed at the high rate of road accidents in Indonesia. Official figures from the Police Department, there were 3,927 road accidents between 11th August and 21st August 2012. There were 686 reported deaths in these accidents over the time period.

SMEC is now working on construction supervision and contract administration for the Karnataka State Highway Improvement Project (stage Two) in India. The project is located in Karnataka State and the contract was awarded to SMEC earlier by the local authorities.

Critics of Europe’s push towards biofuels are pointing out that the strategy is boosting the cost of foodstuffs around the world. The combination of drought and high grain prices are fuelling a growing clamour within Europe that is criticising the policy on boosting biofuel use.

Malaysian construction firm WCT has secured a contract worth US$319.69 million (MYR 1bn) for the construction of a 44.75km expressway in Oman. According to a statement, WCT will be undertaking the project through a joint venture with Oman Roads Engineering within a period of three years.

Work is about to get underway on the Maputo-Catembe bridge and the nearby Bela Vista-Boane and Catembe-Ponta do Ouro roads in Maputo province, Mozambique. Cadmiel Muthemba, Mozambique minister of public works and housing, revealed the imminent start date for the project which will include a bridge spanning around 3km, while the roads will have a combined length of 209km.

The Brazilian government has announced a new transport infrastructure investment plan involving the concession of motorway operations and modernisation of the railway sector. The private public partnerships are predicted to lead to an investment of US$65.68 billion (BRL 133bn) in the next 25 years, including US$ 39.63 billion (BRL 80bn) to be spent in the first five years of the contract.

Moxa has equipped Taiwan’s Hsuehshan Tunnel with its NPort 5230 device servers and EDS-508A-SS-SC Ethernet switches as part of the tunnel emergency traffic control system. The tunnel is south east Asia's second longest road tunnel and comprises three independent tunnels (one pilot tunnel, one West-bound tunnel, and one east-bound tunnel) stretching 12.9 kilometers through Hsuehshan Mountain, the second highest mountain in East Asia.

Unfavourable weather conditions are said to have been the main cause of Colas Group’s €19 million net loss in the first six months of 2012, compared to a €2 million net profit over the same six-months of 2011. However, the leading French transport infrastructure suppliers achieved a 4% increase in consolidated turnover to €5.6 billion between January 1 and June 30, 2012, against 5.4 billion over the same period the previous year.