Road Structures

Speed control technology has been proposed as a safety solution for commercial vehicles operating in Europe. A European Commission study has explored the use of in-vehicle speed management technologies for commercial vehicles. This has been supported by the European Transport Safety Commission (ETSC) Press Release: Boost for Intelligent Speed Assistance in EU Commercial Vehicles. Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) is the term given to a range of devices that assist drivers in choosing appropriate speeds and

Work is now underway on the Empalme Nejapa-Empalme Puerto Sandino highway in Nicaragua. The project is costing some US$40 million and the road forms part of the route connecting capital Managua with the country’s second largest city, Leon. Survey work is determining whether the road requires additional structural improvements and also to see if the budget is sufficient to widen the section to four lanes. The section of road will be constructed from concrete with a thickness of 180mm and it is expected to la

Indian company IL&FS Transportation Networks (IL&FS Transportation) will push ahead with vital major national road projects after securing loans worth more than US$480 million from lenders such as Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank and IL&FS Financial Services. Of the loaned amount, $211.84 million from Yes Bank will be used to help finance the expansion of the Khed-Sinnar Section of NH-50 in Maharashtra to four lanes, while another $272.43 million from IL&FS Financial Services and IndusInd Bank will be used to hel

A new road link for Armenia will help improve the country’s connections to its neighbours and provide a through-route for transport. Around US$967 million will be required to build the North-South motor road, with the work set to commence in 2014. The Armenian Government will contribute $100 million while funding will also be provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). Once the road is complete it will run through Armenia from the country’s borders with Iran and Geor

A road construction contract worth US$1.07 billion has been awarded to China Railway Construction in Nigeria. The Ministry of Delta Affairs of Nigeria awarded the package of works for Section V of the A121 East-West highway to China Civil Engineering Construction, a division of China Railway Construction. The work is expected to take five years to complete and includes design as well as construction. When it is complete, the A121 will connect Nigeria’s two main North-South highways. Its route runs from the

Only one consortium has submitted a technical bid in the tender for a project to build the Chacao bridge in Chile. The bridge will link Chiloe island with Chile’s mainland Los Lagos region. The Chilean government has earmarked a maximum project budget of US$740 million. The consortium that has submitted the technical bid, which would see the construction of a four-lane bridge, is made up of Hyundai of South Korea, Systra of France, Brazilian company OAS and Aas-Jakobsen of Norway. The consortium has

Regional authorities in Slovakia have been pointing out poor condition of the roads across the country and the absence of the €700 million plus they say is required for their repair. Eight self-governing regions manage around 14,000km of roads, of which some 4,000km are said to be in critical condition. Between 2009 and 2013 regions invested around €283 million into the maintenance and repairs of roads. However, officials of the Presov self-governing region estimate that a further €298 million is needed

Parsons has won an award for its work on the Caldecott Fourth Bore Project. The award comes from Roads & Bridges magazine as the top (US) road project of 2013. Parsons worked as prime consultant on the US$417 million tunnel project, working with Jacobs Associates. The project involved constructing a fourth bore through the Berkeley Hills, near Oakland, California. Parsons was responsible for preliminary engineering and the final design of the tunnel, the operations building, and two associated roadway proje

The authorities in Russia’s Urals Region are approving a programme that will see major investment in infrastructure. Some US$3.91 billion will be invested in roads as well as communications, and information technologies between the present and 2020. The transport plans will see 225.4km of roads being rebuilt and improved as well as works to repair and maintain 27 bridges. In addition major repairs will be carried out on both regional and rural roads. A novel part of the programme will be the development of

A new underwater tunnel being created in Istanbul, Turkey will dramatically reduce journey times between two sides of the mega city. The €957.34 million Avrasya Tunnel (Eurasia Tunnel) will connect Kazlicesme on the European side to Goztepe in the Anatolian side via a 15 minute car journey which currently takes around 100 minutes. Situated around 106 metres underwater, the Avrasya Tunnel will be the world's sixth biggest tunnel. It will be based on two storeys of two lanes each, and will be used by aroun