Road Structures

Denmark’s Minister of Transport Ole Birk Olesen has turned the sod to officially start construction of the new 4km road and rail Storstrøm Bridge. The €549 million bridge is scheduled to open for road traffic in 2022 and for rail traffic in 2023. The project budget includes the cost for demolition of the existing bridge that opened in 1937. The 24m-wide single-support cable-stayed structure will connect the islands of Zealand to Falster and touch down on the smaller Masnedø Island.

A new expressway project is being proposed in Thailand. The project for a new expressway in Phuket is likely to cost US$425.26 million to construct. The project is being proposed under the PPP model. The aim is to an offer an improved link between tambon Kathu and Patong beach in the Phuket area. The existing Highway 4029 has a poor record for road safety. The project will include building an elevated section as well as a tunnel section.

The contract has been awarded for the construction of a bridge spanning South Africa’s Msikaba Gorge. The project is expected to cost US$110.5 million and the package of works was awarded by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL). A Portuguese and South African joint venture partnership, Concor Mota-Engil, will carry out the work, which will commence in February 2019 and is expected to take 33 months to complete. The bridge will feature a main span of some 580m, making it the longest cable-stayed

The first section of Russia’s new A181 Scandinavia highway is due to open to traffic in October 2018. However, this is 12 months later than was originally planned as the project has been subject to a number of unforeseen issues. The new link will connect St Petersburg with Ogonki and the work has been carried out by contractor VAD, costing US$148.3 million.

The first section of Russia’s new A181 Scandinavia highway is due to open to traffic in October 2018. However, this is 12 months later than was originally planned as the project has been subject to a number of unforeseen issues. The new link will connect St Petersburg with Ogonki and the work has been carried out by contractor VAD, costing US$148.3 million.

Swedish contractor Skanska reports steady progress on its project to construct the Strømnes to Sprova tunnel connection in Norway. The firm has completed the tunnel excavation portion of the work for both the 600m long Holmvik Tunnel and 1,000m long Strømnes Tunnel. The project is costing around €36.5 million and the new road link will measure 5.4km in all, which includes the new tunnels. Work commenced in October 2017 and should be complete in the third quarter of 2019 if all goes to plan. The project is l

Tunnels are being proposed to improve traffic flow between The Hague and Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The Dutch civil engineering consultancy Royal HaskoningHDV has carried out a study into traffic flows between the two cities. According to the study, traffic flow will improve if tunnels are built at Wassenaar where the N44 road becomes the A44 highway. The study predicts and increase in traffic volumes to 57,000 vehicles/day by 2030.

Work is well underway on a major road project in Argentina. Construction of National Road 19 is on schedule, with 30% of the necessary work having been carried out so far. The project is costing US$164.8 million and the highway will stretch 155km between San Francisco and Rio Primero.

Plans are in hand for the construction of the Sydney Gateway project, which will now see an improved connection to the city’s airport. The highway at St Peters will now be extended to Sydney Airport. The work will cost US$1.85 billion (A$2.6 billion) and will be funded jointly by the Australian Government and Sydney Airport. The work should be completed by 2023. The route will not be tolled.

A major new expressway project is being planned in the UK to connect the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge. The preferred route for the project has now been announced by the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT). The construction work is likely to cost around €4.58 billion (£4.1 billion). Work to the route will include connecting existing stretches to new sections of dual carriageway. There has been criticism of the project however from the Wildlife Trust, which says that the preferred route will dama