Road Structures

Paraguay is opening the tender process for construction work on the Alberdi-Pilar road. The tender is being handled by Paraguay’s Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC). Work on the 96km route will include surfacing and the project is expected to cost just over US$131 million. Financing is being provided in the form of a loan from Fonplata. The project will include building six bridges measuring a total of 2.3km, as well as installing hard shoulders and drainage along the route. The work will be

Recent flooding in Peru has damaged around 4,585km of roads, impacting on the country’s transport sector. Of those roads affected, 1,231km are so severely damaged as to require rebuilding. Meanwhile 117 bridges were wrecked by flooding that occurred between December 2016 and January 2017. A further 224 bridges suffered damaged. The state of Lima suffered the heaviest damage, with 526km of roads being totally wrecked while Arequipa had 225km of its roads destroyed. A combination of river floods and landslide

New road development will help improve connections to New Zealand’s main international airport at Auckland. The work is expected to cost close to US$104 million and is intended to cut congestion around the airport and improve journey times to and from the facility, as well as boosting safety for road users. Improvements will be made to the roundabout at Landing Drive and the work should be complete by the end of 2017. The plan was announced recently by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).

Three new bridges will be constructed the port city of Pemba in Mozambique. Funding for the bridges is being provided by Japan, following the conclusion of successful discussions with its government and the Mozambique Government. The bridges will help to improve the links between Pemba and the district of Palma, which lies to the north of the city. Japan will also assist in developing a transport system for Mozambique’s capital, Maputo.

The proposed Fehmarn Belt Tunnel to link Denmark and northern Germany will never be economically viable, according a report commissioned by German ferry operator Scandilines. Revenue and traffic forecasts are unrealistically high, notes the report completed by German consultancy DIW Econ. It is unlikely that the latest cost to build the massive road tunnel, around €7.4 billion, would ever be recovered. The Fehmarn Belt is a strait between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland. Cur

Construction work for the Abidjan to Dakar Highway project is now starting.

Construction work is due to commence shortly on a new road link connecting Kenya and Tanzania. The 450km route will connect the cities of Bagamoyo in Tanzania with Kenya’s key port, Mombasa. The project is expected to cost US$600 million and will also run through Saadani, Pangani, Lunga Lunga and Malindi. The route runs along existing roads and the work will require repairs and upgrading to a 250km stretch, as well as asphalt surfacing of a section measuring 175km.

Argentina’s Government is setting out plans to invest US$3 billion in developing the country’s transport infrastructure. The plans are being drawn up by the country’s Ministry of Transport and call for Argentina’s multi-lane highway network to be doubled in total length from its present 2,800km. The construction work will be managed by Argentina’s Government in a bid to push forward the programme. Poor road links in Argentina have been recognised as causing delayed journeys and increased transport costs. Up

Repairs and improvement works will now go ahead on Nicaragua’s Pista Juan Pablo II highway in capital Managua. The project is expected to cost close to US$256 million to carry out. A portion of the funding required will come in the shape of a loan worth $105.5 million from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). Nicaragua’s Ministry of Treasury and Public Credit is aiming to receive the remainder of the funding necessary for the work through a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB)