News

Two major road projects will help connectivity in West African nations. In Cameroon, a loan from China Eximbank will help fund a key expressway project. Meanwhile in Côte d'Ivoire, a new highway will provide a new link to a major port. The US$466 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) will be used to upgrade the expressway linking Cameroon’s two major cities, Douala and Yaounde. Meanwhile Bouygues Travaux Publics is to build a 6.4km stretch of highway in Côte d'Ivoire, in a contr

Israel Celli has joined Case Construction Equipment as vice president sales and marketing to lead the European Region, reporting directly to CEO and president Jim McCullough. “I am personally very pleased to have Israel back on the Case Construction Equipment team. His experience and focus on this market will continue to improve the support and service to both customers and distributors,” said McCullough. During a 35-year career, Celli was previously with Case for nearly five years where he was responsible

The UK Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) has produced a DVD entitled ‘Maintaining the Nation’s Roads’ which gives an introduction to asphalt road construction and highlights the need for ongoing road maintenance. The ten-minute film is designed as an information and training tool for anyone with an interest in roads, from highway engineers through to schools and colleges. It covers a variety of topics under three main headings: How Roads Are Made; The Benefits of Asphalt, and Sustainability. “The DVD highlig

A loan worth US$1.20billion for the Padma Multipurpose Bridge project has been cancelled by the World Bank (WB). The decision was said to have been taken as the Bank was not satisfied with the actions taken by the Bangladeshi government in regards to corruption allegations involving the bridge contract. A major engineering and construction company is alleged to have made improper payments to Bangladeshi government officials in order to secure the bridge contract. The World Bank loan, signed In April last y

Racing against 46 elite operators from 20 countries, Sebastian Behr from Germany achieved the highest points in the eight tests included in the Caterpillar Operator Challenge. Timo Honkaniemi from Finland scored second followed by Peter Van Schaik, the defending champion from The Netherlands and the winner of the 2006 and 2005 competitions, in third place. The Caterpillar Operator Challenge, which has ruin for 11 years, was held in Malaga, Spain, and the results were announced at the gala awards ceremony o

A consortium led by Porr Technobau und Umwelt of Austria has launched the construction phase of the E88 million bridge over the Sava river in Belgrade. The six-lane bridge will be 929m long, and also have two light railway lines. Slovenian company SCT and DSD Bruckenbau of Germany make up the rest of the consortium. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is to provide E70 million of financing for the project.

Netherlands-based engineering consultants Royal Haskoning and DHV are merging. The new business will be called Royal HaskoningDHV. The company is based at Amersfoort in the Netherlands and is a leading project management, engineering and consultancy service provider. Bertrand van Ee chairs the Executive Board of Royal HaskoningDHV, with Erik Oostwegel as vice-chair. Jaska de Bakker (CFO), Piet Besselink, Frank Heemskerk and Henry Rowe complete the Executive Board. Joop van Oosten chairs the Supervisory Boar

The Polish General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) plans to announce over 30 tenders for road investments during the first half of 2009. GDDKiA's budget for 2009 is estimated at €7.68 billion. Among others, a tender will be called for the construction of a ring road around the Polish town of Krasnik and for the construction of the S19 road from Miedzyrzec Podlaski to Lubartow, which will also include the construction of two ring roads around Kocek and around Wola Skromowska. GDDKiA is

The UK Department for Transport has commissioned a consortium led by TRL, with MVA Consultancy, ITS Leeds, Simon Christmas, SHM and ARUP as partners, to undertake an integrated programme of research assessing a wide range of road user safety issues in relation to cycling. The study will encompass following four elements: analysis of cycling activity and collision data, international review of literature and survey of local authorities; qualitative research with cyclists and other road users; review of infra

New guidelines have been introduced to improve how the Highways Agency (HA) and emergency services work together. Under the guidelines, part of a Government strategy to reduce the US$1.5billion (£1bn) cost of motorway incidents, the police, fire and ambulance services and the HA have signed up to the CLEAR booklet - drawn up by Agency to tackle congestion caused by lane closures. Launched last year by Roads Minister Mike Penning, The CLEAR (Collision, Lead, Evaluate, Act, Reopen) initiative aims to get tra

The International Transport Forum has announced plans for Forum 2009 to be held in Leipzig on 26-29 May, 2009 on the theme of ‘Transport for a Global Economy: New Challenges and Opportunities.’ At the forum, Ministers of Transport will be meeting with key leaders from industry, the research sector and civil society to discuss the challenges of globalisation for the transport sector of trade and consider what transport can do to respond to the needs for global economic and social development today.

The British Cement Association (BCA) has welcomes the agreement reached between the European Council of Ministers, the European Parliament, and the European Commission on the energy and climate change package. Dr Pal Chana, BCA chief executive, said: “Our biggest fear was that in the rush to get a deal under the French Presidency, industry would be left behind and critical sectors such as cement would be exposed to unfair international competition that simply moved manufacturing to non-carbon constrained c

The Swedish Road Administration (Vägverket) says preliminary figures that point to a lower level of road fatalities in Sweden in 2008. The data suggests accident levels could be at the lowest level since the 1930s. About 400 people were killed on Swedish roads in 2008 until 18th December, compared with 457 during the same period 2007. Some six fatalities were reported to the Administration during the Christmas period ending 26th December, compared with an average 10. The main reason for the lower fatality r

Work is in hand for a new Formula 1 racetrack in Moscow. The facility will be built by Strategiya and will be located close to Volokolamsk. The facility will be designed to hold up to 100,000 spectators. Parking for 10,000 cars will be built although this could be increased if required. Contractor Avtoban will build the track itself while Stroytekh will construct buildings and structures and Siemens/PKE will equip the track with the necessary electronic. The project is costing some US$151 million.