Road Structures

In Slovakia plans are being made for a new project that will become the country’s longest tunnel when it is complete. Salini Impregilo is the contractor heading the project. The work looks set to cost in the order of €410 million and the project is due for completion in late 2019 or early 2020. Although there was a lower priced bid for the project, this was excluded due to technical problems relating to the proposed tunnel exits. The Visnove Tunnel will measure some 7.7km long and will be constructed in the

The final funding has been found for a new dual carriageway connection linking the city of Mombasa to its airport. The Transport Ministry has revealed that US$15 million is being provided for the work by Trademark East Africa, on top of the $24 million being provided by the Kenyan Government. The tender process for the project is now commencing and the size of the deal involved is being revealed shortly. The upgraded road will link Moi International Airport with Changamwe, which lies on the western outskirt

The Indian state of Odisha is to see a total of 2,370km of its national highways (NH) upgraded to four and six-lanes under Phases I to V of the National Highway Development Project. Phase-I of the project has already been completed, involving the four-laning of 520km of NH. Around 490km (Phase II) are still under construction for US$ 770.77 million (INR 45.7 billion), and are expected to be completed by March 2015. These include the four-lane Bhubaneswar-Puri, four-lane Sambalapur-Bargarh, four-lane Panikoi

Mexico's Secretarat of Communications of Transport (SCT) has awarded the contract to build the Cardel-Poza Rica motorway to Portuguese company Mota-Engil. The proposal made by the company, together with PRODI, of US$266.48 million (MXN 3.47 billion), was deemed the most feasible technically and financially. The offer was below the $307.53 million (MXN 4 billion) estimated for the project in the National Infrastructure Plan (PNI). The road will be located in Veracruz, spanning 129km between Laguna Verde and

A report from insurance firm AIG warns that up to half of Colombia's 4G highway concessions could face financial hurdles due to over-estimated predictions of traffic flows. Colombia is at present putting out to tender its fourth generation (4G) concessions, which involve some US$25 billion in investment, reports Business News America. This investment is impressive and is Latin America's biggest move to expand and improve road infrastructure. But while many companies have shown interest and were prequalified

The Latvian road builders association, Latvijas Celu Buvetajs (LCB), has warned that the country’s roads require extensive maintenance and repairs. According to the LCB, the state of the country’s roads and bridges continues to decline, with some 62% of state roads and 148 bridges in poor condition. Of the bridges requiring maintenance and repairs, 28 connect main state roads according to the LCB. Meanwhile the LCB’s warnings over the poor condition of the country’s road and bridge links have been echoed by

A Chinese demolition contractor carried out an effective and efficient demolition job. The firm brought both a defunct bridge and the tower block next to it down simultaneously using explosives. Residents living nearby were evacuated from their properties for safety but the explosive demolition went according to plan and both the bridge and tower block were brought crashing to the ground in the planned zones but without any injuries.

Contractor Mota-Engil is heading the consortium that has been awarded the Cardel-Poza Rica highway concession in Mexico. The package was awarded by Mexico's transport and communications ministry (SCT), reports Business News Americas. The Mota-Engil bid included work costs of US$269 million. The 30-year concession covers construction and operation of a 129km stretch of highway between Laguna Verde and Gutiérrez Zamora, improving connections in the coastal region of Veracruz state as well as connections to V

The Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure, Urve Palu, is keen for the heavily used Tallinn-Tartu motorway section between Tallinn and Paide to be reconstructed into a four-lane stretch by 2020. The project is expected to cost €200 million of which €70 million could come from EU funds. Palu said the improved Tallinn-Paide motorway route would make an important contribution to the development of the regional economy.