Road Structures

Work on Algeria’s long running East-West highway project should be complete by mid-October 2015. The Algerian Ministry for Public Works, has said that the final 120km of road should be ready by mid-October at the latest. This will be the last section of the final stretch of the 1,200km East-West highway to open to traffic. A number of delays have hit work on some sections of the highways due to issues such as technical problems and disputes with contractors. The East-West highway is of major importance for

Turkey’s Ilgaz Tunnel will help boost transportation and cut traffic delays between the capital Ankara and Kastamonu. The new tunnel should be open to traffic in April 2016 and will connect the Ankara and Kastamonu motorways. Measuring some 5.4km long, the tunnel features a twin tube layout. In all the project involves the construction of some 26.7km of roadways. When the new link is open, this willor educe travel time between Ankara and Kastamonu to 1.5 hours. The project is costing around US$205.5 million

A Canadian subsidiary of Vinci Concessions, has signed a 30-year public-private partnership (P3) deal for a bypass around the Saskatchewan provincial capital city Regina. Regina Bypass Partners is a (37.5%) subsidiary of Vinci Concessions, in partnership with Parsons Enterprises (25%), Connor Clark & Lunn GVest fund (25%) and Gracorp Capital (12.5%). Parsons Enterprises - the Parsons division focused on the development, delivery, financing, and management of infrastructure under P3s - is an equity par

Saudi Arabia has announced four projects connecting Jeddah and Makkah that will facilitate faster and smoother travel. The Makkah governorate said the projects include the Makkah-Jeddah Direct Roadway, the Breman-Hada Al-Sham-Makkah Road, the Old Makkah-Jeddah Road and the Makkah-Jeddah Highway.

In the UK, the busy Dartford Tunnel has benefited from the use of powerful pumping technology during improvements intended to boost traffic flow. Pump hire specialist, Sykes Pumps, helped by providing a pumping system, so as to enable piling for the conversion programme to a fully-electronic payment infrastructure.

The Colombian Government has approved the country's eighth public-private partnership (PPP) to transform the Bogota-Girardot route into a six-lane highway. The project will require an investment of some US$596.6 million. Colombia’s Transport Ministry says that the project will improve road connectivity between the capital and Buenaventura. The work will require maintenance, restoration and improvement works over a distance of some 146km. Construction work on the project as well as the Circunvalar de la Pros

Indonesia’s state-owned toll operator, Jasa Marge, is bidding for two major toll road projects. The toll road operating concessions are for the Balikpapan-Samarinda and Manado-Bitung routes. The 99m Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road will connect capital Jakarta with East Kalimantan province. By 2018, the 39km Manado-Bitung toll road will run between the western and eastern parts of North Sulawesi. Jasa Marga has also found the financing necessary to fund the Medan-Kuala Namu-Tebing Tinggi toll road in Deli

St Petersburg Committee’s for Transport Infrastructure Development (KRTI) is setting out a strategy for road infrastructure development. The KRTI says that the city’s road network will be extended from 3,350 to 3,510 km in the 2015-2020 period. Meanwhile the KRTI also hopes to improve the condition of the city’s roads. At present around 30% of the city’s roads are in a poor state but the plans call for this to be reduced to 15% by 202 following the introduction of better road maintenance planning. A major p

Colombia’s National Infrastructure Agency (ANI), has awarded a consortium led by Spanish construction firm, Sacyr, a contract for work on the Pasto to Rumichaca highway. The route lies near Colombia’s border with Ecuador. This project forms part of the second wave of 4G road concessions being awarded. A second carriageway will be built for 80km between Ipiales and Catumbuco, with six road intersections, 2.6km of tunnels and 1.5km of bridges, pontoons and viaducts. The SAC 4G consortium comprises Sacyr and H