Road Structures

Indonesia pulls back from Sunda Strait Bridge connecting Java and Sumatra Indonesia appears to have shelved construction of a 30km bridge that would have connected the islands of Sumatra and Java – a US$23 billion project. The structure -- a dream of Indonesia's political elite since the 1960s -- was to have three lanes of traffic in each direction, twin rail tracks and cabling for telecommunications and electricity. But the Jakarta Post newspaper reported that recently elected President Joko Widodo had

The firms Pöyry and Ramboll are to handle the design work for a project to upgrade a stretch of Highway No 6 in Finland. This package of works was awarded by the Finnish Transport Agency to Pöyry and Ramboll. The stretch of highway being upgraded lies between Taavetti and Lappeenranta. The work is for a 28km section of road including a portion of Highway No 6 and 12km of new roads. Also included will be three new interchanges, an upgrade to an existing interchange and environmental protection including the

The UK’s Highways Agency is teaming up with three universities as well as industry partners to research more efficient construction and maintenance practices for highways. The project will benefit a budget of some €191,000 £150,000) of funding initially. The research project will be handled by the Highways Agency, the University of Salford, Cardiff University, Nottingham Trent University, contractor Costain and the Lean Construction Institute UK. The aim of this project is to improve project delivery for cl

The UK Government looks set to announce a major programme of road widening and improvement work. In all some €19.1 billion (£15 billion) is planned to be invested in around 100 large road projects. One of the key projects planned is for a new tunnel on the A303, close to the famous Stonehenge site. The tunnel will measure up to 2.9km long and will carry four lanes of traffic past the Stonehenge site. This tunnel has been proposed and cancelled on a number of previous occasions and has long been recognised a

Progress is said to be on track for the Eurasia Tunnel being constructed in Turkey. Around 33% of the link has already been built. This project will be the first tunnel link for Istanbul and will provide a vehicle crossing for the Bosporus. Construction work commenced in April 2014. The tunnel will be 95m deep and the underground construction work is due for completion by the end of 2015. Meanwhile the fitting out work and connecting links to the tunnel will be complete by August 2017. The tunnel will be 14

In New Zealand the Government is now considering charging tolls for the use of Auckland's motorways. The proposal would help plug a US$9.5 billion (NZ$12 billion) transport funding gap by charging a toll of $1.58 for using motorways in Auckland between 6am and 7pm on weekdays and 79 Cents between 6am and 7pm on weekends. There will be no toll charges for using Auckland's motorways after 7pm. Another option to plug the funding gap is to charge an annual fuel tax. The government could also opt to increase tol

The Philippines Government plans to reopen the tender process for the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) project. This public-private partnership (PPP) project is valued at some US$791.7 million. The 47km toll road project will feature a 35-year concession covering design and construction, as well as financing and operation. The earlier bid from Optimal Infrastructure Development, a unit of San Miguel, was disqualified due to technical reasons. With this disqualification, Team Orion became the party with the

The German Government has given the go-ahead for planning a new autobahn section in Bremen. The Ministry of Transport says that the work will be carried out to a section of the A281 autobahn that connects the A1 and the A27. The section lies between Bremen-Airport-Stadt and Bremen-Kattenturm. The work is expected to cost some €142 million. A representative of DEGES, the engineering company that is coordinating the project, has said that that work could start in January 2016.

Two new bridge projects planned for Ecuador will cost a total of US$116 million. Studies submitted to the local councils in Guayaquil, Daule and Samborondon determined the cost for building the two bridges to connect these areas. However, an additional $7 million might be needed if another structure is to be built over Samborondon Avenue. Enylic, CPR and Consultola worked on the design studies at a cost of $1.05 million.