News

The Ugandan government aims to cut traffic congestion by building a 37km dual carriageway toll road linking Entebbe International Airport with Kampala. The US$350million project, set to begin later this year, is being funded through a four-year loan from the Export-Import Bank of China. The toll road is due to open in 2015.

Russia is rolling forward with a massive programme of road building and reconstruction. The plans call for some 5,700 km of federal highways to be repaired by 2017. At present, only 38% of Russia's roads are in good condition and this has been identified as a key priority for improvement by the country's Government.Meanwhile the authorities in the Russian city of St Petersburg have a target infrastructure investment programme for 2012 as well as plans for 2013 and 2014

In Oman Galfar Engineering & Contracting will handle the US$131.75 million project for the 46km Nizwa-Thumrait road. The project forms part of Oman's Eighth Five Year Plan, which runs between 2011 and 2015.

The Ural Federal Highway Administration (UFHA) has issued an open tender to reconstruct a 20km section of Perm-Yekaterinburg road in the Perm region (Urals) of western Russia. The starting price of the contract is US$129.51million, with the work asked to be completed no later than 1,220 days after its award. When evaluating bids, UFHA says it will take into account terms of the contract, the coefficient of the criterion standing, cost, previous quality of work, and personnel qualifications. The bidding dead

The latest reports on the new Autopista de Coral highway in the Dominican Republic say that the project is on schedule.

Mott MacDonald has been appointed lenders’ technical advisor for a US$133.7million highway project in Gent, Belgium. The project is being funded through a public private partnership (PPP) by Via R4 Gent¹, a special purpose vehicle established to carry out the design, construction, financing and maintenance of the highway.

Zipcar, which claims to be the world's leading car sharing network, has been awarded a blanket purchase agreement (BPA) by the US General Services Administration's Office of Motor Vehicle Management (GSA Fleet) as a vendor for the federal government's short term rental (STR) programme.

The cost of the 18km Puhoi-Warkworth motorway project in New Zealand has been revised up to US$1.45billion from $1.35billion. The Transport Agency has also changed the project start date to 2014. It is thought around 50 landowners will be affected by the construction of the new motorway, which will shorten journey times between Auckland and Whangarei.

MonteAdriano Engenharia e Construcao has been awarded two contracts in Mozambique worth a combined US$92.33million. The Portugese construction and engineering company will renovate and build two roads with a joint length of 58km near the provinces of Zambezia and Niassa, and two roads with a combined length of 90km in Tete province. The works must be completed within 18 months.

Japanese firm TGMY has scored a notable performance record with one of its custom-made electric vehicles. The company tested one of its vehicles on a track, clocking up 587km on a single charge.

Plans are in hand in Qatar for a new 190km highway project. Tenders for the Orbit Road project will be opened by the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning and the Public Works Authority (Ashghal).

The organisers of bauma China 2012 say that exhibitors can now start registering for the exhibition. Registration closes on 15 February 2012 and at present, 300,000m2 of exhibition space is available.

GE and Nissan have signed a two-year research collaboration to speed up the development of a reliable, robust smart charging infrastructure to fuel mass market adoption of electric cars like the Nissan Leaf.

Mexico's capital has taken delivery of the country's first all-electric taxi cabs under an agreement to promote eco-friendly vehicle use between Japan-headquartered Nissan Motor and the local government.

Italian motorway operator Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI) signed the US$3.86 billion contract awarded earlier on in 2011 for the heavy vehicle satellite toll system of the motorway network in France.ASPI leads a consortium also including French telecom group SFR with a six per cent stake, defence group Thales with 11 per cent, IT specialist Steria with three per cent, and transport firm SNCF with 10 per cent.