Road Structures

Argentina has set out plans for a major refurbishment of much of its dilapidated road network. The work will take four years to complete and involves building 2,800km of highways as well as 4,000km of trunk roads. This is a substantial programme of works, which should also deliver around 35,000 much-needed jobs. The Ministry for Transport has drawn up the schedule work the programme, which is expected to cost in the region of US$14.43 billion. The country’s total road system stretches for some 182,000km

Work on five road projects will commence shortly in Ethiopia. The works are for a total of 347km of roads in all and the contracts were awarded by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) recently. Three of the projects are for building new roads while the other two involve upgrading and maintaining existing links. The work is worth a total of US$245.45 million, with all of the projects being handled by local contractors that are state-owned. Amhara Roads Works Enterprise will carry out work on the third pha

Tajikistan is planning a major programme of repairs to its roads and bridges. The aim of the work is to improve connectivity. A total budget of US$335.4 million has been set for the work. Of this budget, $195.65 million will be used to rebuild roads.

Argentina’s Transport Ministry will carry out a major programme for road tenders at the end of 2016. In all work on 15,000km of road projects will be put out to tender. The total estimated cost of these works has yet to be revealed however. A new tender process is also underway for Argentina’s Route 3 project. The tender is for the completion of the highway, with 11 bids having been received. The project has a budget of US$145.2 million. The work on the highway is so far some 36% complete. The project had b

Work on a major tunnel project in Algeria is due for completion shortly. The tunnel will commence carrying traffic during July 2016, although an official inauguration date has not so far been announced. The T4 tunnel will connect Constantine with Skikda and Annaba, which lie to the north and on Algeria’s coast. The 2.5km tunnel forms a section of the East-West highway. To cope with the tricky geological conditions in the area, both umbrella arch and composite roof bolting methods have been used to sup

Nepalese minister for finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has highlighted the importance of transport as part of the country’s budget for the fiscal year 2016/2017. Key issues include reviving the economy affected by the earthquake and the supply system disruption and attaining high economic growth through increasing productivity and production. The budget will aid with promoting domestic and external investment and expanding economic activities, increasing income and employment and reducing poverty, in a bid to c

The authorities in Kenya have signed an agreement with a Chinese contractor for a major highway project. The deal is for design and feasibility studies for this proposed highway, which would run from Ruaka to Gitaru. The 16.5km highway section would form part of Nairobi’s Western Bypass, should the project get the official go ahead once the feasibility study has been completed and analysed. China Road and Bridge Corporation (CBRC) will carry out the feasibility study as well as the preliminary design, havin

Brazil is continuing to work on its road development programme, despite budgetary restraints due to the country’s difficult economic climate. Responsibility for over 10,000km of road that have had minimal maintenance or improvement works over the previous 15 years will now be taken by the Federal Government. An overall lack of funding has combined with disagreements between federal and state authorities as to who should pay for road upgrades, resulting in no work being carried out at all. Meanwhile improv

Global building materials giant Cemex says that as part of its commemoration of World Environment Day 2016 on Sunday 5 June, its El Carmen Conservation Program is celebrating 15 years of continued scientific research, habitat preservation, and species restoration. With over 140,000 hectares, the cross-border El Carmen private conservation region between Mexico and the United States is said to be one of the most biodiversity rich areas in North America, and one of the five great wilderness ecosystems in