Road Structures

An agreement has been reached in Vietnam for construction of a bridge over the Dong Nai River close to Ho Chi Minh City. The proposed 4.5km, six-lane cable stayed structure – the Cat Lai Bridge - could cost as much as US$268 million. It would replace the Cat Lai ferry service that runs between Nhon Trach District of Dong Nai Province and District 2 of Ho Chi Minh City. The bridge would also become a major route to the international airport, according to local media. The ferry service carries on averag

Plans are being considered by the Russian Government for the new Meridian Highway project, intended to connect Europe with Western China.

The Malaysian Government is working on its proposed strategy of taking over 15 highway links in the country. This move is intended to help boost transport efficiency and reduce journey times for drivers. Should the arrangement go ahead as planned, the aim is to eliminate tolling on the routes by 2038. The highways that the Malaysian Government hopes to acquire are currently owned by Gamuda, IJM Corp, Plus Malaysia and Projeck Lintasan Holdings. These include the North South Expressway, one of Malaysia’s key

New road projects are being planned in Poland, with a further 11 now having gained official approval. Worth some €185.6 million, the projects include the construction of a new ring road around the town of Walcz in the north west of the country. Work on this ring road is expected to commence in 2023 and take until 2025 to complete. Another ring road project being planned is for the resort town of Augustow, in the north east of the country, which should also be completed in 2025.

A new 18km motorway link is being planned in Thailand that will cost an estimated US$1.2 billion. The highway will be an extension of the existing Don Muang Tollway. This will provide an improved connection between the existing M5 and M6 motorways as well as Nakhon Ratchasima, lying to the north east of capital Bangkok. The tender process for this 18km tollway extension project is expected in 2021, with two contracts being offered. The project is likely to be handled under the PPP model, with actual constru

A major road upgrade programme is being planned for the Udmurt Republic, part of the Russian Federation. The road system in the Udmurt Republic measures some 17,400km in all. There are also 363 key bridges and overpasses, which measures some 13km in all. However neglect of the links has resulted in 12 of the bridges and overpasses becoming in serious need of repair. The Udmurt Republic Government has set a target for rebuilding 410km of key road links during 2019, as well as addressing issues for some of th

Construction work is underway for Mexico’s Atizapan-Atlacomulco motorway project. The project will now be complete in 2021, although it was originally planned to be ready for traffic in 2016. A series of delays hit the contractor originally working on the project, which then resulted in Mexico’s Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT) awarding the contract to another group. The concession for the project is now being handled by Aleatica.

New road building work for two key links in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam is expected to cost US$124 million. Truong Chinh street and Tan Ky Tan Quy street will be widened to boost capacity and cut congestion. The former will feature five to six lanes in either direction once the work is complete. The latter will feature three lanes in either direction once the work is complete. Considerable site clearance work will have to be carried out for the work to go ahead.

A legal battle is facing the UK’s Silvertown Tunnel project. A consortium called STC and comprising Dragados and Hochtief is presenting a legal case over the project. According to STC, there are issues over the way in which the preferred bidder for the work has been selected. The work is for a new tunnel under the River Thames in the east of London. The project is expected to cost £1 billion. The Riverlinx consortium is currently the preferred bidder. Building the tunnel will help reduce congestion. The