News

The Rhône-Alpes region of France along with seven Swiss cantons, Tyrol in Austria and five Italian regions are joining forces in a bid to limit road traffic in the Alps. The partners have developed a shared geographic information system and a good practices guide. Aimed at teaching users, the guide promotes an eco-mobility campaign with Tyrol and a hotline with information on means of non-polluting transport in Chambéry. It also underlines that trucks cannot circulate at night and on Sundays in Switzerland,

A construction industry task force is being assembled by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). This group includes key industry leaders who will chair the ARTBA MAP-21 funding/implementation task force. Top executives from the Kiewit Corporation and Lane Construction will join a former executive director of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in leading ARTBA’s transportation panel. The group will spearhead the association’s efforts to secure additional federal investment fo

A report by US-based research specialist the Freedonia Group highlights the continuing strong growth in the Chinese construction market. According to Freedonia’s report, construction expenditure in China will increase 8.8%/year in real terms throughout 2016. Although this growth will slow slightly from the rapid pace seen during 2006-2011, the country will continue to outperform other major national construction markets. This will be driven by urbanisation and industrialisation, rebounding foreign investmen

Major road projects in Kenya are to benefit from a loan agreement with China. Two roads receiving funds are located in Kenya’s Migori and Home Bay counties. One of the roads links Sori and Sindo and runs through Nyandiwa, while the other connects Masara and Mbita via Karungu, Sindo and Magunga. Another loan is being offered to build the Narok-Masai Mara (C12) road, which will link with the Narok-Mau-Narok (C57) road. The deal involves Chinese firm Zhongmei Engineering Group and the Kenyan Government.

Volvo CE said strong sales, particularly in North America, helped the company record a 15% rise in equipment sales in Q2 of 2012 – bucking a worldwide reduction in the size of the global equipment sales market. The company’s operating income also rose in Q2 2012 to 35%, with operating margin up 13.3% on the same period of 2011. Volvo CE strengthened its market position in wheeled loader and excavator sales in China, taking a 14.7% share of the vital market.

US civil engineering company Shimmick Construction, Italian peer Impregilo and a Spanish firm have been officially awarded the US$ 650 million contract for the Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach, California. The groups were judged to have submitted the best technical and economic proposals for the bridge, which will measure approximately 610 metres in length and have around two kilometres of access ramps.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) in the UK is calling on the government to redesign crash barriers to make them more motorcycle-friendly. While crash barriers have saved the lives of thousands of drivers, hitting a crash barrier is a factor in eight to sixteen per cent of rider deaths. When they hit a crash barrier, riders are 15 times more likely to be killed than car occupants. In a crash, barrier support posts can worsen injuries by five times.

Stockholm motorists failing to pay their congestion charges now outnumber those who fail to pay their parking fines, according to new figures. The Swedish Enforcement Authority (Kronofogden) said that between December 2011 and July 2012, a total of 13,200 non-congestion charge payment cases were reported.

The tender process for upgrade works on the D1 highway in the Czech Republic is attracting international bidding. The five sections of highway are worth €173.2 million in all, with investments of €59 million planned for 2012. Companies entering bids so far include Metrostav, Skanska, Strabag, Eurovia CS, Swietelsky Stavebni, OHL ZS, Dalnicni Stavby Praha. Bidders also include several consortia including one comprising M-Silnice, Bogl a Krysl and Berger Bohemia and one made up of Hochtief CZ and Silnice Casl

Key improvements will be made on stretches of key roads in Brazil’s Parana State. In all repairs and maintenance will be carried out to 16 stretches of road, totalling some 4.800km in all. This work is expected to cost US$29 million. However Parana State has a total budget for overall road improvements of $419 million. Of this, actual road repairs will cost around $203.25 million. Some $144 million will be used for road preservation works,$67 million for cleaning drainage systems and $129 million to improve

The Sarajevo Ring Road in Bosnia and Herzegovina is expected to be completed by October 2012. The construction of the 5.6km long highway from Josanica to Butila is being carried out by a consortium of companies made up of HP Investing and Strabag AG. The completed Ring Road will be part of the future Corridor Vc motorway.

The Ugandan government aims to raise US$950million for new road projects via contractor-financing agreements. The funds will be used to construct 1,900 km of roads in the country. Calls for expressions of interest have been published by the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA).

Close to US$13 billion of road projects are being planned by the authorities in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. The Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City Department of Planning and Investment is looking for funding for 19 year road projects. The city is seeking approval to go ahead with urgent public projects, especially those for reducing the impact of flooding and better traffic management. The city authorities are planning the bidding process for the projects, which will be carried out in the build-operate-transfer, build-transf

As part of a recent rail investment package, the Department for Transport has ring-fenced a US$100 million fund for safety improvements to level crossings between 2014 and 2019, and Optex has announced that its Redscan laser detector has been specified as part of a new solution to automate signalling and detect whether or not a level crossing is clear from vehicles and pedestrians before allowing a train to pass through.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan says that the electric vehicle (EV) charging station market in North America has grown immensely, helped along by favourable government level (federal, state and municipal) incentives and subsidies for the purchase of EVs. The government is extending these plans to the installation of charging station and funding programmes such as ECOtality's EV project, which is trying to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure in six major states.