Road Structures

A series of upgrades are planned for the two bridges crossing the Bosporus at Istanbul. A series of structural renovation works will be carried out. The work is due for completion in 2014 and includes the replacement of 236 cable sections. The tender for the work is now open to entrants although it has been closed to consortia.

The Victoria state government in Australia is planning to build Melbourne’s East West Link road costing US$5.64 billion (AUD 6 billion) to $7.53 billion (AUD 8 billion) on public-private partnership (PPP) basis and will award construction deals by the end of 2013. There are four consortia shortlisted for the18km tolled motorway project: Momentum Infrastructure, consisting of Leighton, John Holland, Iridium and Dragados; Sicuro, made up of Egis, Hyundai, Impregilo, Salini, Aquasia and InfraLinx Capital. T

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) plans to invest €10 billion (NOK 80 billion) in road building and tunnel upgrades from 2014-17, according to its new investment plan for the period. A further another €2.87 billion (NOK 23 billion) will be spent on pedestrian and cyclist safety measures. Veidekke, a Norwegian construction company, forecasts 2-3% annual growth in the Norwegian construction market in 2014, but with a flattening out of housing construction. It forecasts Sweden

The construction of a 74km road between Caracollo and Confital in Bolivia will cost around US$177 million, the country’s vice-president Alvaro Garcia Linera has revealed. The contract for the project has been put out to tender. Companies have until 8 November 2013 to submit their proposals. The contract will be signed on 23 December 2013.

The US$396 million upgrade of the Tumba Muerto-Via Israel road in Panama City, including four flyovers and four tunnels to alleviate traffic jams, is expected to be completed by the end of December 2013. More than 630,000 drivers will benefit directly when section one of the scheme, costing $216 million, is inaugurated in 15 days. Section two, which is 80% complete, requires a $180 million investment and will benefit 250,000 drivers. It is expected to open at the end of October 2013. Meanwhile, minist

Contractor ÍAV has suspended its construction of a road through the Gálgahraun lava field in Iceland until the courts rule on whether or not the halted project can be completed. The suspension of the project was agreed with environmental protection group Hraunavinir ('Lava Friends'), which has pledged to continue its protest against the road. As part of the agreement reached with Hraunavnir, ÍAV will in the meantime work on other projects that won’t have an irreversible impact on the lava field.

Colombia's national infrastructure agency ANI will auction 13 road projects with a combined value of more than US$7.87 billion (COP 15 trillion) in H1 2014, out of 40 planned. Nine of the scheduled auction projects have gone through the pre-qualification stage and will be definitely awarded in the first quarter of next year. In total, all 40 projects will involve investments of COP 47tn. The plan is to improve 8,000kms of roads in the country.

The fourth and final section of the Milton-Madison Bridge in the US has now been demolished. This aged 740m long structure was no longer able to cope with the traffic volumes along the route and has been demolished to make way for a new bridge. The bridge connects the US states of Indiana and Kentucky and has provided a key traffic route for the busy US421 over the Ohio River for many years. In a rather innovative piece of engineering, the new bridge has been constructed alongside the old structure and even

Financing has been found to fund construction work on the North Tarrant Express (NTE) in Texas. The public-private partnership project for Segment 3A of the route will be carried out by NTE Mobility Partners Segments 3 LLC (NTEMP3). The rebuilding of the I-35W road close to Fort Worth will help reduce traffic congestion on the route at peak periods. The public-private partnership has been agreed between NTEMP3, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the North Central Texas Council of Governments

The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission (OTIC) has approved funding for 10 projects worth a combined US$930 million located in northern Ohio, each within 20 miles of the Turnpike. The projects will be funded using bond proceeds that were the result of Governor Kasich’s Ohio Jobs and Transportation Plan. OTIC conducted a special meeting on 9 September 2013 to hear Turnpike staff analysis of the 12 Transportation Review Advisory Committee (TRAC) projects that were presented to the Commission by th