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Vietnam’s Dung Quat-Sa Huynh road project, on which initial works are being carried out, will receive additional funds for land clearance and construction. The cash injection increases the amount invested in the project in Quang Ngai Province to more than US$267.68million (VND 5.60tn).

Spain’s tough economic conditions have resulted in difficult times for the country’s private toll highway operators. A fall in revenue has combined with a tough financial situation to make it difficult to pay off debts. Spain’s Ministry of Public Works is offering potential help with a new viability plan for tolled highways. This would involve merging weak, loss-making highways with long concession contracts, with highways that are profitable. Several options meet this criteria but the sector considers the

Traffic on the A 40 motorway in the German province of North-Rhine Westphalia will be stopped from using the key highway to allow for tests on a new road repair scheme. The vehicle ban on the motorway near Essen begins on 7 July, 2012. Sources close to the scheme say that without the complete closure of the A40 motorway, the work would have taken two years to complete.

THE AUTHORITIES in Belgian capital Brussels are discussing the possibility of introducing a congestion charge system. UK capital London and Swedish capital Stockholm already have functioning congestion charge schemes that have helped solve the previous near traffic gridlock in both cities at peak periods. Another option for Brussels would be to tackle congestion by boosting the use of public transport for commuters entering and leaving the city. Meanwhile in the Belgian Flanders region the authorities are e

In Australia, a road contract worth US$400.47 million (A$400 million) has been won by Interlinks Roads. The deal involves upgrading a key section of highway, with Transurban holding a 50% stake in Interlink Roads. In addition, Abigroup will carry out a $315 million deal to widen a 21km section of Sydney's M5 highway has been secured by Abigroup. The M5 work is due for completion in 2014 and includes widening 21km of the M5 from two lanes to three lanes between Camden Valley Highway and King Georges Road.

Environmental questions are facing the construction of the Martin-Presov highway in Slovakia. The European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are waiting to receive approval to fund construction of the highway in Slovakia from the European Commission (EC). However the EC is not giving its approval for the loans at present until the Slovak Government provides answers as to why the route goes through a national park. Although the Slovakian Transport Ministry is k

Highway sector experts in India are calling for tougher enforcement on helmet use, to boost safety standards for powered two wheeler riders. The country’s accident statistics show worryingly high levels of deaths and injuries for powered two wheeler riders. India is the world’s second largest producer of two-wheelers and these constitute nearly 70% of the country’s registered vehicles. According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), some 28,234 persons (21.1%) of two-wheeler riders have been kill

Environmental questions are facing the construction of the Martin-Presov highway in Slovakia. The European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are waiting to receive approval to fund construction of the highway in Slovakia from the European Commission (EC). However the EC is not giving its approval for the loans at present until the Slovak Government provides answers as to why the route goes through a national park. Although the Slovakian Transport Ministry is k

DELAYS are facing construction work on Serbia’s Corridor 10 highway project. The country’s present administration has explained that the previous government left debts of €300 million and that many planned projects had been left uncompleted, with only the draft of the Serbian Urban Plan being finished. The Dimitrovgrad Ring Road is opening to traffic but other links are delayed or well behind schedule. Meanwhile a €170 million deal for construction of the Zemun-Borca Bridge has been signed with Chinese comp

FRENCH ROADS have seen a drop in fatal accidents. In the first quarter of 2010, 827 people were killed in road accidents in France, a fall of 6.2% compared with the same period for 2009. The data was produced by French road safety authority, the Sécurité Routière. However in March there was a 3.7% increase on March 2009 with 305 deaths. This increase may have been due to tough winter conditions at the beginning of 2010, which affected traffic levels, particularly motorcycle use, according to Sécurité Routiè

Serbia’s Ministry of Infrastructure intends for work to start on the Corridor 10 highway project during 2010. This is a major project and has been split into several sections, with a total cost of €800 million. The ministry has already signed the contract with a Serbian consortium to build a 110km section of the Horgos- Novi Sad highway. Tenders will be called for shortly for tunnel projects near Dimitrovgrad, worth €60 million, for part of the €38 million Grdelica to Grabovnica road, and for the Neredovac-

The Polish authorities are calling tenders for eight sections of a delayed stretch of the A1 highway. The 180km section is between Strykow to Pyrzowice and the tenders will be for design and construction work. The project is worth €1.8 billion and the contracts are expected to be signed in September of this year, with construction commencing in the second half of 2011 and due for completion in 2014. Meanwhile, over €84 million is being invested on a ring road construction project around Przemysl. Approval h

The Spanish Government has set up its Extraordinary Infrastructure Plan (PEI), which is designed to stimulate the country’s economy and employment through investment in transport. In all the plan calls for public private collaboration investment of €17 billion, with €11 billion being used for new works and €6 billion for renovation and maintenance. Spending on roads will take €5.1 billion and the tender process for the various projects will commence in the second half of 2010. The economic impact on public