Road Structures

The Public Works Authority (ASHGAL) of Qatar has given Larsen & Toubro (L&T) a contract worth US$599.13 million (INR 36.55 billion) to design and build the Al Wakrah Bybass Road. Scheduled to take 32 months, the high profile project will involve building 11km of road with 10 lanes and four future lane sections with additional collectors/distributor roads, frontage roads and ramps. The new freeway will provide access to the existing and planned developments via five major interchanges comprising of 20 bri

Slovakia plans to use €4 billion of its €15.3 billion EU funding package for 2014-2020 on road projects. The projects include the construction of several new stretches of the D1 and D3 motorways, as well as repairs and modernisations of Class II and Class III roads. The government in cooperation with the regions are currently drafting a strategic plan for the development and maintenance of roads at a regional level.

Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Town-Planning Policy and Construction Marat Khusnullin says over 200km of roads and 60km of subway lines will be built in the city in the next three years. A total 46 transport facilities will also be constructed, the Deputy Mayor has confirmed.

In the UK a contractor carried out a successful overnight demolition of a highway bridge. Demolition firm S Evans and Sons carried out the work, as a sub-contract to main contractor Balfour Beatty. The work involved removing the pedestrian bridge located close to the town of Stafford. The bridge spanned the busy M54 motorway and the work was carried out at night to minimise disturbance to the traffic flow.

Official approval has been given to the feasibility report for the Chuzhou-Huainan Expressway project in China’s Anhui province. Construction of the US$1.35 billion expressway will be carried out during 2014 and the projects is due for be completion within 3 years. The 125km route will feature four lanes in either direction and will have a speed limit of 120km/h. The expressway project includes seven interchanges.

Work is now underway on the second section of a new tunnel project in the Polish city of Gdansk. The tunnel runs underneath the Martwa Wisla River. The project is of note as it is the first time a TBM has been used to drive a tunnel in Poland. The tunnel will feature twin tubes, each measuring 1.07km long. The tunnel forms part of the Trasa Slowackiego project and is worth some €210 million.

The Oman Government has awarded a major road upgrade project to Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro. The 76km project is worth just over US$249 million. The route is at present a two lane road and will be widened between the towns of Bidbid and Sur. The work includes building 10 interchanges, seven pedestrian underpasses and five underpasses for vehicles. It also includes building service roads.

From Colombia comes news of a US$13.4 billion funding package that will be directed towards the construction of nine highway projects. This package of works includes construction and concessions for a series of highways, which will be carried out under the PPP model. These include the Conexión Norte, Autopista al Río Magdalena 1, Autopista al Río Magdalena 2, Autopista al Mar 1 and Autopista al Mar 2. They also include the Autopista Conexión Pacífico 1, Autopista Conexión Pacífico 2 and Autopista Conexión P

Atkins is working on major contracts in Texas and Florida for tolling and design and build services respectively. In Texas the Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reselected Atkins as its state-wide prime consultant for toll-plaza planning, development, and implementation. Under the terms of the five-year, $10 million contract, Atkins is providing planning, development, infrastructure design and coordination, and construction oversight services, as well as system installation, integration, and testing serv