Road Structures

Kuwait is planning to introduce tolling on its Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Bridge. This 43km causeway will commence operation at the end of 2018. With the opening of the causeway, journey times between Kuwait City and the area around Subiya will be reduced as the driving distance will be cut from 104km at present to just 37.5km. The plan to toll the link has been initiated by the country’s Ministry of Public Works, in line with tolling measures on long bridge links elsewhere in the Middle East and Europe. The rat

A Turkish company will carry out a key construction contract in Qatar. The project is for the East industrial highway and the package of works was awarded to Tekfen Insaat, which won the tender process. The project is worth some US$200 million and is expected to 27 months to carry out. Once the highway is carrying traffic it will help reduce congestion at peak periods.

Construction work is now underway for new bridges carrying the I-74 Interstate highway across the Mississippi River between Iowa and Illinois in the Quad Cities area. The project forms part of a US$1 billion programme of works intended to cut congestion at peak periods along the route. This will improve traffic flow and reduce journey times for drivers. The project is being planned jointly by the Department of Transportation for Illinois and the Department of Transportation for Iowa. The highway bridges wil

In Indonesia plans are being drawn up for a bridge to connect Bintan Isand with Batam Island. In all the bridge connection would measure 7km long and be built in three sections: Batam - Pulau Tanjung Sauh; Pulau Tanjung Sauh - Pulau Buau; Pulau Buau – Bintan. The bridge project was proposed previously in 2005 but stalled a few years later, with financing being an issue at the time. When the work was costed back in 2009 it had a pricetag of US$350 million. However, the work will be somewhat more costly to co

A new road project is planned for Ufa, capital of Bashkortostan, which is part of the Russian Federation. A partnership between Turkish contractor Limak Holding and Russian firm VTB Capital will handle the project, which is expected to cost US$570 million. The project will see the construction of a 12.5km long highway and includes the construction of a 1.25km tunnel section as well as 2.6km of bridge stretches over a four year period. The partners have set up a joint business, Bashkir Concession Company, to

Japanese financing will help pay for new bridges in Nicaragua. The funding package is worth nearly US$43 million and is being provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The four bridge will be constructed on the road that connects Rio Blanco and Siuna in Nicaragua’s North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCN). The agreement has been settled between JICA and the Nicaraguan Government. The new bridges will help improve connections between the Pacific Coast Coast and the Caribbean Coast

A new bridge in Kenya’s premier port of Mombasa is being planned. This will be the second Nyali Bridge and it is being built in a bid to cut congestion as the existing structure is unable to cope with the current traffic volumes. The new bridge will be 600m long and the project will also include building 400m of connecting roads to link the structure to the existing network. The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) is due to open the tender process shortly. The winner of the tender will have the job of design

Construction work on a new highway connection from the Serbian border to the Kosovan capital of Pristina will commence in 2018. The highway will run from Nis on the border to Pristina and is expected to cost around €200 million to construct. Funding for the project has yet to be finalised though the European Investment Bank (EIB) may well play a role in providing financing.

Construction has commenced on a contract to build a new 27km road link in South Korea. The road will connect the northern and southern regions of South Korea’s Saemanguem area. The work is costing US$813 million and is being carried out in two stages. The first stage of the project should be complete by 2022.