News

Parsons Brinckerhoff has been appointed the programme management consultant to Ashghal, the public works authority of Qatar. It will work on a QAR 30 billion (US$8 billion) programme focusing on the construction and upgrade of local road and drainage projects throughout the country over a five-year period.

Organisers of the Interoute&Ville 2012 being held in Lyon, France later this year say they are set to welcome 200 exhibitors, 7,000 professional visitors and 700 delegates. Held every two years and acclaimed internationally, the exhibition is dedicated to materials, equipment and technologies for streets, roads, highways and cities, bringing together professionals who work in the fields of infrastructures and land use planning. This year, organisers are creating a ‘smart infrastructure village’ to assist co

Mexico’s newly opened Baluarte Bridge crosses the Baluarte River in the Sierra Madre mountain range in the north of the country. The 1.12km long bridge is 403m high at its central point, making it the highest cable-stayed structure in the world, and a Guinness Book of Records entrant. It is part of a new highway connecting Mazatlan on Mexico’s Pacific Coast with Durango.

African heads of state have endorsed the launch of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), a multi-billion dollar initiative that will run through until 2040. Following their 18th summit, held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, they approved the implementation of the recommendations in the study on PIDA.

Carlisle, in north-west England, has seen as 20% reduction in congestion since the opening of the city’s US$284million (£176m) Northern Development Route in February this year. Around 10,000 vehicles a day are using the new road, which is broadly in line with the predictions made by highways engineers when building a case to construct a new route connecting the A595 with the M6 around the western flank of the city. Traffic counters positioned on the new road show an average of 9,583 vehicles a day along the

The Egyptian Government is opening the tender process for the Rod el Farag highway in July 2012. The highway project is expected to cost US$1 billion to construct and will be carried out in two stages. One section will run from Alexandria Desert Road to the Cairo Ring Road. Meanwhile the second section will run from the Cairo Ring Road to the eastern side of the Nile-Shoubra area and the Al Ismailia Canal Road.

In China plans are underway for a new expressway connecting Luohu and Futian districts in Shenzhen. The US$1.58 billion project still has to be approved by the authorities in Shenzhen city. Of note is the plan to build the majority of the 20.3km expressway as an underground road. Once it is complete, the new link is expected to reduce congestion in both districts. Meanwhile a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) has secured the LM2 section contract for the 20.5km Fanshi-Day

A total of US$6.27billion is to be spent on 82 highway schemes in Pakistan. In addition to the schemes, set to be implemented by the National Highway Authority (NHA), a further 14 projects worth $1.03billion are also in the pipeline. Over the next five to seven years, the NHA’s National Trade Corridor (NTC) programme plans to lower transport cost, road fatalities and travelling time.

Construction company and transport infrastructure operator OHL Mexico is planning a US$836.27million capital investment. The major sum is 28% more than the capital investment undertaken by the firm in 2011, but less than what was spent in 2010. Around half of the planned investment for 2012 will be channelled into the north urban highway.

The tender to construct of the Struma motorway in Bulgaria has attracted interest from several international companies. The near US$130million EU funded project, which will link the Bulgarian capital Sofia with the Greek border, is expected to be completed within 27 months of the day a successful bidder is announced. Among companies interested in the project are Greek firms Aktor, GEK Terna and J&P Avax; Spanish firm FCC Construction; Bulgarian company SK 13 Patstroy; Strabag of Austria; and the Italian fi

England’s motorway network is not safe enough to have the speed limit raised to 80mph, according to a new report from the Road Safety Foundation (RSF). Titled ‘Unfit for 80’, the report says poorly-maintained and inadequate roadside protection and the rapidly rising risk of shunt crashes from the sheer volume of traffic using England’s motorways are key factors of safety concern. The RSF document has been published while the Government continues to consider a review of the motorway speed limit. Last autumn,