News

Illegal motorway car racers in Thailand are to be targeted with additional radio frequency identification (RFID) systems and surveillance cameras. The move comes after Thai authorities have been tackling high-speed motorcycle racing involving youth gangs, mainly from low-income households. Meanwhile, a new seatbelt law for children is set to be introduced in a bid to reduce the country’s number of child accident deaths. It will make it compulsory for children aged below 15 to use a seatbelt when a passenger

Greek general construction companies Terna and AEGEK Kataskevastiki have signed a deal to develop part of the Egnatia Odos highway.The budget for the works is reported to be US$ 113.90million, plus VAT of $26,111,500. The second part of the two-part highway development project is budgeted at $23,046,800, plus VAT of $5,300,750

The Ecuadorian Ministry for Transport and Public Works is to spend around US$ 5billion turning the country’s 1,286km of roads into ‘super-highways’. The staggered investment over the next two years is set to boost Ecuador’s tourism, farming and agricultural industries. A first stage will see the firm Consultora de Ingenieria, Estudios y Perforaciones de Suelos (Cieper) undertaking definitive traffic studies, as well as engineering and environmental impact studies for the Santo Domingo-Quevedo road, located

The CEA (Construction Equipment Association) is to highlight the importance of the construction sector to the UK economy in an Industry Showcase at the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) HQ in London. The showcase from 14-25 May, 2012, will also promote the forthcoming PLANTWORX construction machinery exhibition. Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, Mark Prisk MP, will be attending the showcase on Wednesday May 16th from 11am – 12noon to talk to participating companies. The Constr

The Chinese province of Qinghai will this year see US$237.83million spent on 300 new bridges and 2,000km of new rural roads in farm and pastoral areas. In 2011, a total of $289.49million was spent on creating 306 new bridges and 1,767km of rural roads in Qinghai. The sum also paid for the upgrade of 5,901km of rural roads.

Bulgarian Regional Development Minister, Lilyana Pavlova, has revealed plans to create a Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo-Svilengrad-Istanbul toll road under a public-private partnership (PPP) programme. Investors from Oman, Qatar and China are expected to take part in the PPP, said Pavlova. The 300km route would enable a faster connection between the Danube Bridge and the Bosphorus through the pan-European transport corridor 9.

Roads Minister Mike Penning yesterday gave the green light for development work to be carried out on six new major UK road schemes. The development work, which will take place over the next three years, aims to prime the road schemes for completion in the early years of the next spending review period (post 2015). The six proposed road schemes, which aim to boost economic growth as part of the Government’s National Infrastructure Plan, are:

China has opened the world's longest bridge over water, the 41.58km Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, which is said to have cost well over US$2 billion to build. It links the eastern port city of Qingdao to Huangdao Island across Jiaozhou Bay and is 4km longer than the previous longest bridge over water, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, USA. Opened in June, 2011 after four years of construction, the link is expected to carry some 30,000 vehicle/day and will reduce travel time by 30 minutes, although it is o

Halcrow has been appointed by Transport Scotland to develop a bridge operating company contract to manage and maintain the new Forth Replacement Crossing and existing Forth Road Bridge. The £1.6million commission, won in the face of stiff competition under Transport Scotland’s multiple framework agreement, runs to December 2014.

Road deaths in France reportedly fell by 22.2% to 280 in April 2012, compared to 360 in the same month of 2011. Further figures show that the number of road deaths over the first four months of 2012 fell 16.1%, which translates to 202 lives saved in comparison to the same period of the previous year. The number of road deaths fell 9% in March 2012 and 25.3% in February 2012. From May 2011 to April 2012, road deaths fell 8.7% to 3,765, the first time the number of people killed over a year has fallen to und

The latest IRF Bulletin is wholly devoted to issues of Environment & Climate Change as they impact on the road infrastructure sector. It features an authoritative but highly readable set of articles contributed by IRF members throughout the world. A comprehensive range of topics is covered in-depth, including policy & regulatory measures, tools for assessing, quantifying and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, technology advancements and mechanisms for adapting to climate change impacts.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Transport has awarded Traffic Tech (Gulf) – Abu Dhabi a traffic signal maintenance contract for the Al Ain Municipality. Valued at over US$ 4.5 million, the contract will run for two years covering maintenance and development of all traffic signals throughout the city. Recently, Middle East Integrated Systems (MEIS), Traffic Tech Group’s Bahraini based company, has also been awarded Bahrain’s traffic signal maintenance contract covering over 280 intersections. Currently, the grou

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved two loans worth €85 million for Croatia's road infrastructure. The first part of the loan is worth €60 million and will be used for construction of the Corridor Vc highway. The deal was signed between the EIB and Croatian motorways company Hrvatske Autoceste (HAC). The loan will finance 50% of the construction of the Corridor Vc highway. This includes a 12.5km section of the highway along the southern and northern part of the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina

The introduction of diesel hybrid vehicles in Europe will help reduce CO2 emissions. Automotive OEMs are now developing and introducing low-emission vehicles and by 2015, every other new car sold in Europe will have CO2 emissions in the range of 101-120grammes/km, according to a report by Frost & Sullivan.

The UK Highways Agency is urging drivers to take extra care at roadworks. This moveis intended to reduce deaths and injuries among roadworkers and road users. The issue of safety in workzones is a serious one and has been highlighted in other European countries as well as in the US. Highways Agency research shows that over 80% of UK drivers say that their driving changes at roadworks, including slowing down and being more careful and attentive.