Road Structures

The International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA) has granted a lifetime achievement award to Dr Ing Martin Herrenknecht. The award was presented at the recent ITA event in Singapore and reflects his experience in delivering a series of ambitious tunnelling projects. In the past 20 years Herrenknecht has met major challenges in tunnel engineering and delivered effective solutions for projects. Key successes include the twin drive, 57km-long Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland that open

Construction work is proceeding on track for the Paniga Tunnel project in Italy, with the primary drilling and blasting phase now having been completed. Located in Morbegno in northern Lombardy, the tunnel forms part of a bypass stretch for state road 38. Work on the project started in 2015 and is being carried out by Cossi Costruzioni, a subsidiary of Italian civil engineering company Societa Italiana per Condotte d'Acqua (Condotte). The client for the project is ANAS, the Italian state-controlled road com

Advanced research could provide warnings as to damage to infrastructure. The research project has been carried out jointly by the National Physical Laboratory and University of Strathclyde. This uses mathematical techniques to provide early warning signals of structural damage in civil megastructures. The technique uses tipping point analysis to review data from structural health sensors on civil constructions, identifying early warning signs of upcoming damage. According to the research partners, this is f

Plans are moving forward with regard to the Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros Bridge in the Philippines. Building the 13.2km bridge is expected to cost up to US$457 million and take three years to be completed once the construction gets underway. The bridge will be built in the Visayas Region of the Philippines and would link a number of islands, replacing the ferry services in use at present. Chinese expertise may be employed to help design and construct the link while South Korean sources could deliver a portion of

A loan facility from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help fund work on the project to construct a new bridge over the River Ganges in India’s Bihar State. Because of the width of the river at this point, the bridge will be close to 10km in length, making it the longest in India. The new bridge will improve transport connections between the north and south of the state and the project is expected to cost around US$500 million. Building the bridge will help develop transport and trade in the area, as we

Contractors OHL and Astaldi has won a major portion of a large highway project in California. The work is for the upgrade to I-405 in Los Angeles and is valued at US$ 1.2 billion. The two firms will work in a joint venture on the project. OHL has a 60% stake in the project while Astaldi holds the remaining 40% share. The deal represents a positive move for Astaldi, which is keen to develop its presence in the western US. The six year contract requires the design and construction of the improvement works

Mexico’s Nuevo Leon state will benefit from a budget of US$455.4 million for infrastructure works during 2017. However this is a drop of 16% from the budget allotted for 2016. The funding will be split between road maintenance and building new roads, with a key project being work on the Saltillo-Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo road. Meanwhile the elevated interconnection road linking the Periferico Sur motorway with the Tlalpan toll booth in Mexico City is seen as crucial to helping develop tourism, protecting th

The Australian state of Victoria will benefit from US$2.26 billion (A$3 billion) in funding for planned road projects. This financing will be split equally by the Federal Government and the Victoria State Government. Some $520 million (A$690 million) will be spent on regional and rural road projects while $753.3 million (A$1 billion) will be used to upgrade the Monash Freeway as well as for other works including improving the M80 Ring Road.

Sydney’s proposed WestConnex motorway will be wider than planned to accommodate four instead of three lanes in each direction, according to media reports. The changes are part of a revamp of the third and final stage of the ambitious project in the capital city of Australia’s eastern New South Wales state. Some exit and entry ramps will also be scrapped but the overall cost of just under US$5.3 billion for the third stage remains unchanged, reported the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. The projects