Road Structures

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) awarded a US$2.75 million contract for a study to develop the corridor along a stretch of Interstate 635 (I-635) in Dallas. The two-year contract is for schematic, environmental and traffic studies for the construction of access roads along the growing section of highway and was awarded to Michael Baker International. As part of the contract, the Michael Baker team will conduct a number of detailed studies in advance of TxDOT’s plans to add more than 53km of

Mexico has no less than 20 major highway projects currently under construction. Of these, eight of the highway projects should be complete by the end of 2016. The highway projects are being delivered for Mexico’s Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT), which is also overseeing the work. In addition to the highway projects, SCT is also overseeing road maintenance and upgrade activities to some 12,900km of federal roads. Another key programme being handled by SCT will see new road links to remote a

Key highway links in Chile are likely to see upgrading, although the operation of the links could change. The country’s Ministry of Public Works (MOP) is keen to see widening work for Ruta 68, a route currently operated by Abertis. However MOP has not revealed if it intends to buy back the Ruta 68 contract from the operator and then put the highway back out to tender, with the new deal then including the widening work. It may prove simpler to strike a new deal with Abertis that includes the necessary highwa

Tunisia is working on a series of major new highway connections. The new highway connecting Bou Salem with Beja and Oued Zarga should be ready for traffic in the third quarter of 2016. This will provide a highway link all the way from capital Tunis to Bou Salem, as the A3 previously stopped at Oued Zarga. In addition, the new highway connecting Gabès with Medenine in the south of Tunisia will be complete by the end of 2017. Meanwhile the winner of the tender process for the study into the El Kef highway con

Construction work on a 130km section of highway is being carried out at present in Ethiopia. The stretch runs between the towns of Awash and the city of Adama, which lie to the east of capital Addis Ababa. The new section of road being built will form part of the highway from Adama to Dire Dewa. The US$544 million project is being managed by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA). The work is needed to improve the route from Addis Ababa to Dire Dewa, which carries a high percentage of heavy truck traffic and i

A heavily-used bridge of historic importance in US capital Washington DC looks set to benefit from much-needed improvement works. The work will be part funded by a US$90 million from the US Department of Transportation. The structure of the Arlington Memorial Bridge has become degraded over time and has been highlighted in a number of reports as being in dire need of a major rebuild. The 651m bridge links Washington District with Arlington County, carrying around 68,000 vehicles/day. But in all the bridge i

Work is now underway in Namibia to upgrade key road links. One project will see improvement works to the B2 coastal road connecting Swakopmund with Walvis Bay. Another project is for the widening and resurfacing of the C28 link, which runs from Swakopmund to Namibia’s capital Windhoek and will be reclassified as Main Road 44 once the improvements are complete. In all the work is expected to cost over US$137 million, with a total of 100km of road due to be improved and upgraded over a three year period.