News

Infrastructure expansion is the key to China’s continued economic development, according to the organisers of the upcoming bauma China 2012 event to be held in Shanghai. The bauma China 2012 show will take place from November 27 to 30, 2012 in Shanghai. Over 2,000 exhibitors are expected to take part in this “International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Construction Vehicles and Equipment”. And – for the first time – the event will be taking up the entire site at the Shan

Providing sophisticated advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) like driver monitoring system, lane departure warning, intelligent headlamp control and traffic sign recognition to compact cars such as the Ford Focus or Citroen C4 has helped to bring down driver assistance systems from high-end cars to mass-volume compact cars.

German company Vitronic has been selected by Thales group to supply key components for all fixed enforcement gantries for the nationwide truck charging system to be implemented on 15,000 km of French roads. The multi-million euro contract is part of the prestigious Ecotaxe project, a distance-based tax for trucks. From mid-2013 onwards, all vehicles over 3.5 tons in weight will have to pay a tax on national roads with the fee being collected by means of an onboard GPS satellite system.

Software specialist Bentley Systems has announced the project finalists in the 2011 Be Inspired Awards competition and the four winners of the 2011 Be Inspired Special Recognition Awards. The awards honour the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving and sustaining the world's infrastructure. Five independent panels of jurors, comprising accomplished Bentley users and distinguished industry experts, selected the 59 finalists and the Special Recognition Awards candidates from nominations submitted by 27

Support for Stockholm's congestion charge has risen to a record high, a poll by the Centre for Transport Studies (CTS) has shown. Some 67 per cent of the residents in greater Stockholm that have an opinion on the issue would vote in favour of the charge should the referendum be held today while 82 per cent would vote in favour of the charge if all incomes were used to develop public transport.

The City of Austin, Texas, has awarded a contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff for the development of a transportation corridor plan along an 18.5km section of IH 35 in central Austin. A variety of potential highway, transit, bike and pedestrian improvements are anticipated to be generated from a process which will apply a context sensitive process involving a wide range of agency and public stakeholders.

In Canada Transport Quebec is using stringent requirements to ensure that the planned Turcot Interchange reconstruction project stays within budget and is completed on scheduled by 2018. This US$2.95 billion (C$3 billion) project includes replacing the Montreal West, Turcot, Angrignon and De La Verendrye interchanges as well as portions of the 720, 15 and 20 Highways.

A new bridge costing over US$136 million will improve transport links in Tanzania. The 680m cable-stayed bridge will be built by China Major Bridge Engineering Company (CMBE) and Chinese Railway Construction Engineering Group (CRCEG).

A key need for infrastructure upgrades is required in Vietnam during 2012. Official estimates suggest that some US$499.4 million is required to repair roads and upgrade or replace bridge links in the country. The Directorate for Roads of Vietnam says that there are 277 ageing bridges which need repairs and the country’s Transport Ministry has been urged to prioritise the issue.

International ground stabilisation specialist, Tensar has successfully defended its TriAx product range against several Chinese patent infringements.The TriAx geogrid, patented in many countries around the world by Tensar for use in ground stabilisation, road, rail and other applications, has received many awards for innovation and has achieved considerable commercial success since its introduction a few years ago."Several Chinese manufacturers and their distributors attempted to take advantage of this succ

ESRI is developing a comprehensive highway data maintenance and linear referencing solution scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2010. Aimed at highway departments, state departments of transportation, and national roadway administrations, the company says it will provide an integrated set of tools and functionality that allows agencies to easily maintain highway geometry, their associated multiple linear referencing systems, and complex roadway features