Road Structures

An important new road link is being built in Algeria that will connect the port of Oran with the country’s East-West motorway. The new road link is expected to open to traffic in 2017. The work is being carried out by an Algerian-Turkish partnership, Engoa-Makyol. Costing US$483 million, the work will take some 30 months to complete. The new road is expected to improve traffic flow to and from the port and reduce congestion in and around Oran as heavy trucks will no longer have to use existing urban routes.

The Moroccan Government intends for the country’s first PPP construction projects to be launched in 2016. Morocco’s Ministry for Infrastructure, Transport and Logistics is currently carrying out studies on over 20 PPPs. The road projects built under PPPs include the Guercif-Nador West Med, Tanger-Tétouan, Safi-Marrakech, Béni Mellal-Fès-Meknès and Agadir-Guelmim motorways.

The contract for a major highway project in Algeria worth US$242.3 million has been awarded to a consortium. The work involves building a 31km urban highway connecting the port of Skikda to the country’s East-West highway. Portuguese contractor Teixeira Duarte-Engenharia e Construccoes forms part of a consortium with Algerian groups Sero EST Batna and Nardjess Travaux Publics. The new highway will have three lanes in each direction and has to be completed within 24 months.

A key link road in Vietnam has been given the go ahead. The plan is for a new road to run from the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Highway to Sapa District. The construction project has been authorised by the People's Committee of Lao Cai Province in Vietnam. The 27km link road will be challenging to construct however as it will run through some of the country’s mountainous areas. The project will include building five viaducts and four flyovers crossing streams. The project is expected to cost close to US$115 million. T

Construction of a new expressway connecting Hambantota with Matara is now underway in Sri Lanka. This new expressway will link with the existing southern expressway that runs between Matara and Colombo through the southern town of Galle. The new Hambantota-Matara expressway is cost US$180 million to construct. Funding for the project has been provided by the Exim Bank of China.

Mexico’s massive infrastructure programme is broadly on track for completion. The country’s Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT) has confirmed that 80% of the projects included in the national infrastructure plan (PNI) between 2014 and 2018 are already under development. There are 52 major road infrastructure projects within the PNI. Of these, 17 of the new highways have been completed. A total of 17,000km of new roads have been built in Mexico since 2012. The PNI programme also includes improv

Work is underway on the second phase of a new highway in China. The route connects Xihua and Zhoukou with Zhengzhou Airport. The new highway is due for completion in 2017 and will be 45km long, with a maximum speed limit of 120km/h. The six lane highway is costing US$805 million to construct.