Road Structures

Plans for the Pan Borneo Highway project are gathering pace in Malaysia. The tender process for the project will commence in 2016. This is being handled by the Malaysian Works Ministry. The first section of the Pan Borneo Highway project will involve tenders worth US$4.17 billion alone. This stretch of the route will run from Telok Melano-Miri through Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu, Serian and Sematan. The tenders will be for 10 separate packages of works. The project schedule calls for work on these 10 sections of

A series of loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) will help finance transportation projects in Costa Rica. Totaling around US$1 billion, the loans will allow a substantial package of works to get underway. This will be of major importance to Costa Rica as it will unlock several key road and transport projects so far held back by the availability of suitable funding. However, the Costa Rican authorities have yet to announce all the road projects intended for construction. So far only three hi

A major road project has been awarded in China, which will improve connections to capital Beijing. The Beijing Xingyan Expressway Project was won by a consortium comprising China Railway Construction and its units China Railway 14th Bureau Group as well as China Railway 12th Bureau Group. This is a massive construction project and is worth around US$2.06 billion. The project is being handled under the PPP model and will take 39 months to construct while the consortium’s concession package will be for a peri

The Finnish Transport Agency has signed an agreement with a consortium formed by Skanska Infra, Pöyry and Ramboll for work on Highway 6 between Taavetti and Lappeenranta. This consortium also carried out the project development phase, which was launched in March 2015. The work is being carried out as an alliance-based project ensuring that the client and consortium are responsible for project design and construction, share the risks and opportunities and form a joint organisation. The work calls for Hig

A joint venture formed of Balfour Beatty and Carillion has won the tender process for a €401 million (£292 million) road widening package in the UK. The joint venture will commence with preparatory works worth €686,680 (£500,000) initially as the main contract is subject to approval of the wider A14 improvement scheme. The aim of the joint venture’s work is to upgrade the A14 between Swavesey and Milton. This forms part of the wider A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon road improvement scheme. The joint venture is a

A new dual carriageway is planned for Nigeria’s Cross River State, in the South East of the country. The dual carriageway will connect the city of Calabar in the south of the state with Obudu in the north of the state. The project has had its official ground breaking ceremony carried out by the country’s president, Muhammadu Buhari. The dual carriageway will stretch around 260km in all according to reports in the Nigerian press. This new dual carriageway will help cut journey times as the condition of the e

Colombia's national road institute (Invias) has said that the La Linea tunnel project will open to traffic in 2017. The project has been delayed on several occasions and due to a variety of reasons, presenting a luckless and lengthy tale of woe for Colombia’s transport ministry. Early in its lifetime the project was held back by unexpected geological issues arising from more challenging ground conditions than had been initially realised. The project was also delayed by insurance problems for some of the fir

An agreement has been made between the authorities in Thailand and Myanmar concerning a new bridge that will link the two countries. The bridge will span the Moei River. The project will cost over US$44 million and includes the bridge as well as border checkpoint buildings. Connecting roads are also included in the project, which is being handled by Thailand's Highways Department. The construction work should take around 24 months. Once complete, this new route will form part of an east-west link from Myanm

Greek contractor Terna is heading a joint venture that will construct a major road project in the Middle East. The US$340 million road project is for the rebuilding of a 40km link in the Doha industrial area. The contract was awarded by Qatar's Public Works Authority (Ashghal). Terna is leading the joint venture, which also includes Gulf Consolidated Contractors and Wade Adams Contracting, will rebuild a 40-kilometre long road stretch in Doha industrial area. The work is expected to take three years to comp

A key bridge project is expected to commence in Chile in January 2016. This will be for the second Bicentario Bridge, as well as a number of connecting roads that will link San Pedro de la Paz and Concepcion in Biobio. Construction of the second Biobio Bridge has been delayed due to an earlier tender award being cancelled. The first bridge has already been completed. According to Chile’s Ministry of Public Works (MOP), four firms have placed bids to build the second Bicentenario Bridge and the aim is to hav