Road Structures

Eurovia has won two major road contracts in the US worth a total of US$480 million. A subsidiary of the French company Vinci Construction, Eurovia will work on design-and-build contracts that will help improve two road corridors in North Carolina. Eurovia’s work on I-485 in Charlotte involves adding a 26km express toll lane in each direction as well as a free high-occupancy-vehicle lane. The project aims to improve traffic conditions on the highway, which is used by 146,000 vehicles/day and suffers severe

A new road project worth US$440 million is going ahead in Hong Kong’s Yau Ma Tei west area. The project is for a six-lane road and the new link will be constructed by a consortium comprising SK Engineering & Construction Co (SK E&C) and local firm Build King Construction. Work is now starting and the package of works is expected to take 84 months to complete. The contract was awarded to the consortium by Hong Kong’s Highways Department.

A joint venture comprising Shapir Engineering and Impresa Pizzarotti has been awarded the franchise for Israel’s Highway 16. The deal is worth some US$275.6 million and involves building and operating the route over a 25-year concession. The package of works was awarded to the joint venture by the Israeli Government and the work involves building a 5km link that will join the existing Highway 1 with Jerusalem’s southern and western suburbs. The project also includes building two tunnels and three interchang

Steady progress is being seen in Indonesia with regard to the construction of its major toll roads. A series of key routes are expected to start operations by the end of 2018. Banten’s Merak Port should be linked to the trans-Java toll road by the end of 2018. The target for the end of 2018 is for 941km of toll roads to have been completed, while the target for the end of 2019 is for 1,852km of toll roads to have been completed. The Pemalang to Batang, Ciawi to Sukabumi, Pejagalan to Pemalang and Surakarta

A bridge located in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, is facing calls for its demolition. Concern has been expressed over the condition of the Hlavka Bridge, which spans the Vltava River. The bridge carries heavy vehicle traffic as well as trams and is one of the city’s major transport arteries. It was built originally from 1909 to 1912, replacing an earlier wooden structure. It was then rebuilt so as to cope with vehicle traffic and at present carries up to 100,000 vehicles/day, making it one of the b

A new road upgrade project is intended to improve traffic flow in Qatar, reducing delays at peak periods for drivers. Costing nearly US$165 million the Al Wakrah Main Road improvement project will see the 9.2km link being widened, boosting capacity to 6,000 vehicles/hour in either direction. The work involves building four new intersections, improving the existing roundabouts and constructing a new stretch of tunnel. In addition, provision for cyclists and pedestrians will be added. To further optimise tran

Two new bridges are planned to connect Brazil and Paraguay. The new bridges are intended to improve trade and transport between the two countries. One of the bridges will be built to span the Parana River and link the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguacu in Parana State with the Paraguayan city of Puerto Presidente Franco. The other bridge will span the Paraguay River and link Porto Mustinho in Brazil’s Matto Grosso State with the Paraguayan city of Carmelo Peralta.

The completion date has been announced for sections of Vietnam’s key road project. The North-South Expressway project is being built in eight stretches with the work being handled under the PPP model. Vietnam’s transport ministry is aiming for sections of the route to be built by the second quarter of 2020. Funding worth US$5.09 billion has been secured for the project. The North-South Expressway forms a key part in Vietnam’s national road strategy. The plan also includes upgrading, improving and maintaini