Road Structures

A bridge carrying one of Norway’s busiest motorways remains closed after a major earth slide severely damaged its supporting columns this week. The bridge closure comes as Norway’s Public Roads Administration said it is concerned about the condition of 104 bridges throughout the country, although they remain safe to use. Two of the foundation pillars of the bridge at Holmestrand, along the Highway E-18 through Vestfold County, were affected and dropped a span by up to 1.5m, creating a severe dip and crack

Samsung, Daewoo, Hyundai, Acciona, Ed Züblin, MT Højgaard and Per Aarsleff are among the bidders to build a bridge connecting the Danish islands of Zealand and Falstser. The Danish Road Directorate expects to choose five pre-qualified consortia for the Storstrom Bridge project in May and the bids for the project are scheduled to be submitted by April 2016. The new bridge, likely to cost around €565 million including the cost of demolishing the old bridge it will replace, is expected to open by 2021, a

In Colombia the tender process is underway for two major highway projects worth a total of US$1.257 billion. The Autopista Mar 1 and Autopista Mar 2 projects are located in the department of Antioquia and the details of the projects were published by Colombia’s national infrastructure agency ANI, reports Business News Americas. These projects number amongst the 10 concessions the Colombian Government is awarding for the second round of its $25 billion 4G national highway plan.

Interest is strong in the tender for Brazil’s proposed Rio-Niteroi bridge project. So far three groups have expressed an interest in tendering for the project, EcoRodovias, Arteris, and current contract holder CCR. The tender will commence on March 18th 2015. A number of other groups had shown interest but will duck out due to legal issues relating to the Lava-Jato case that is ongoing at present. Brazil’s national land transport agency ANTT has set a maximum tariff value for the bridge toll at US$1.89 (BRL

The recent partial collapse of the Skjeggestad Bridge in Norway is prompting investigations of other similar structures in the country. The problem happened due to ground slipping around the bridge's foundations. This highlighted a known geological issue with regard to the presence of particular types of clay. Bridges constructed on quick clay are not unusual in Norway according to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, NPRA (Vegdirektoratet). NPRA is now compiling a review of other bridges at risk of s

In Costa Rica plans are now moving forward with a project to widen the highway connecting capital San Jose with San Ramon. The project looks likely to cost in the order of US$440 million. The Costa Rican Government has given its approval for a trust fund financing system for the project. Plans to carry out the widening work were delayed earlier when Costa Rica’s Government cancelled a contract with construction company OAS, leading to compensation claims.

An end to a thorny issue is close at hand concerning who will fund construction of a border customs plaza on the US side of a planned bridge linking Canada and the United States. US President Barack Obama’s US$4-trillion budget did not set aside any money for the plaza for a second consecutive year, further irritating Canadian officials who are overseeing construction of the bridge. It appears that the Canadian government might end up footing the entire bill, according to a report in Toronto’s Globe a

A huge programme of works is planned for New Moscow. This is aimed at adding extra capacity. The plan calls for the building or reconstruction of over 120km of roads within the next four years. About 600km of roads will be built in the Troitsky and Novomoskovsky (New Moscow) administrative districts by 2035. Most of the new roads will be built with four lanes, allowing two in either direction. The Central Ring Road is a priority project. A road between the Kommunarka village and the Yuzhnoe Butovo district

A new tunnel project is planned for Poland. The project will improve traffic links for the town of Swinoujscie. Italian firm Technital has won the tender process to handle hydro-geological work as well as the design of the tunnel. This portion should be complete by the end of 2015 and the construction work can then follow after.

A new highway project is planned for Colombia, which will be designed and constructed under a PPP concession. The Colombian Government awarded the project to Grupo Odinsa. This will be the country’s second PPP highway project and is expected to cost in the region of US$513 million to construct. The complete 325km project includes building a ring road in Villavicencio, as well as works between Villavicencio-Acacias, Villavicencio-Apiay and between Puerto Gaitan-Puente Arimena. Colombia’s National Infrastruct