Road Structures

Plans are being set out for improvements to the key road connection linking Slovenia with Austria. The proposals call for a second Karavanke Tunnel. At present a single two lane tunnel connects Jesenice in Slovenia with Villach in Austria. Completed in 1991, the tunnel suffers heavy congestion at present with traffic delays frequent at peak periods and particularly during the holiday season. A second tunnel would boost capacity and help reduce the delays. Geological survey work will have to be carried out a

Malaysia’s Federal Government and Sarawak State Government have agreed to construct a bridge in Sri Aman. The new bridge will span the Sungai Batang Lupar waterway in Sri Aman. The work will be managed and funded on a 50-50 basis by Malaysia’s Federal Government and the Sarawak State Government. In addition, construction work on the Pan-Borneo Highway is now underway. This major project is expected to cost around US$3.95 billion and will improve transport between Malaysia and its neighbours, helping boost e

A new agreement has been signed that will improve transport links between West African nations. The agreement for the new Lagos Dakar highway has been made by the Economic Community of Western States (Cedeao). In all five memoranda of understanding (MoU) were signed by Cedeao with the Chinese construction and public works company CGCOC Group. These MoU encompass the trans-western African coastal highway, as well as telecoms infrastructure, local civil aviation, railway links and the construction of the new

Spanish infrastructure firm Abertis is keen to develop a series of projects in Chile. In all the projects are worth over US$900 million. Abertis has presented these projects to Chile's Ministry of Public Works. This move follows the acquisition by Abertis of the remaining 50% stock holding in the country's Autopista Central motorway concession. This was bought from Canadian fund manager Alberta Investment Management (AIMCo) for over $1 billion.

Jakarta’s chronic congestion problems look set to be eased slightly with the construction of two new elevated roads. These will be built over the Semanggi interchange in South Jakarta and work will commence in April 2016, with copmletion expected in 2017. The new links will connect South Jakarta's Kebayoran Baru and Ratu Plaza, East Jakarta's Cawang and West Jakarta's Grogol. The Japanese contractor building the new elevated links has also sourced the necessary funding for the work.

Construction work for a new bridge spanning the Danube River and linking Hungary and Slovakia has been delayed. The work will now commence on the project in September 2016. The new bridge will connect the town of Komarom in Hungary with Komarno in Slovakia. The project was delayed temporarily by changes to procurement rules in Hungary. The bridge is expected to be complete in the second quarter of 2019 and a portion of the funding for the new bridge will be provided by EU sources.

Plans are progressing on a major tunnel project in Peru. The concession for the La Molina tunnel project in Lima has been awarded to Spanish firm OHL. The project will cost US$521 million. The 12.2km project includes building the 1.5km tunnel as well as sections of road and a number of viaducts. The new route will connect the districts of La Molina and Miraflores and will run through Surco, Surquillo and San Borja. OHL Concesiones Peru will carry out the technical studies for the project in 2017. Constructi

Loans worth a total of US$243 million will help pay for the rebuilding of the Chinsali-Nakonde road in Zambia. The loans are being provided by the African Development Bank (AfDB) based in Ivory Coast and Africa Growing Together Fund. The AfDB is offering a loan of $193 million for the project while the Africa Growing Together Fund is offering $50 million. The Chinsali-Nakonde road is of key importance for trade as it connects Tanzania and Zambia.

Indonesia’s toll road expansion programme is continuing to grow. Bidding is commencing for three toll road projects; the 83.9km Serang-Panimbang route in Banten, the 58.6km Cileunyi-Sumedang-Dawuan (Cisumdawu) route in West Java, the 29.3km Legundi-Bunder route in East Java.

Plans for a new bridge link connecting Argentina and Uruguay are being developed. A comprehensive set of feasibility studies for the new bridge is being carried out that covers technical, environmental and financial factors. There are three existing road connections spanning the Uruguay River that link these nations but this new bridge will improve transport links between the two. The feasibility study is costing US1 million but the estimated cost of the bridge construction has not yet been revealed. The fe