Road Structures

A series of major road projects are planned for various parts of Russia that will improve connectivity. These include the Moscow-St Petersburg highway, work to the transportation system in the Rostov region and a new bridge over the Belaya River in Ufa. The tender process for the contract to build, maintain, repair, and operate a section of the Moscow- St Petersburg highway has been announced by Avtodor. The section is from the 334th to the 543th kilometre. The contract will call for the construction work t

A joint venture comprising BAM Nuttall and Morgan Sindall will carry out the 4km widening of the UK’s heavily congested A14 route. The €28.5 million (£24 million) project is being carried out for the Highways Agency to reduce journey times more reliable, improve safety and support proposed local development. Mott MacDonald will carry out the design work for the project. Junctions 7-9 of the A14 are highly congested at present due to a combination of heavy commuter traffic and the high percentage of HGVs car

Two Chinese firms are building a new road connection in East African nation Ethiopia. The 133km road will run from Mille to Kombolcha, through Bati. Shandong Highway is working on a 73km stretch of the route from Milla to Burka, while Zhongmei Engineering has the deal for the 60 stretch of road from Burka to Kombolcha. The project is being carried out for the Ethiopian Government and is being handled by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA). Indian firm International Consultants & Technocrats (ICT) has a US$1

A group of seven banks is to fund the construction of the third Bosporus Bridge crossing in Turkish commercial centre Istanbul. A group of six Turkish banks, Garanti Bankasi, Halk Bankasi, Is Bankasi, Vakiflar Bankasi, Ziraat Bankasi, and Yapi Kredi Bankasi, is being joined by the Netherlands-based Garantibank International to provide the necessary US$2.3 billion of funding required for the project. A joint Italian-Turkish consortium comprising Astaldi and IC Ictas will build the bridge, which will reduce c

AECOM is starting work on its contract for Singapore’s North-South Expressway project. The US$15 million contract covers 21.4km section of the route. The contract is for consultancy work on the electrical and mechanical engineering aspects of the expressway project.

Scottish Roads Partnership (SRP) has been announced as preferred bidder for the design, construction, financing and operation of a major infrastructure project to complete the Central Scotland motorway network. The key project will complete the motorway network between Glasgow and Edinburgh by upgrading the A8 trunk road between Baillieston and Newhouse to full motorway standards. It also includes work to improve the Raith Interchange and widening key sections of the M8, M73 and M74. This involves constr

Poland is to benefit from a €17.5 billion investment in its transport infrastructure from 2014-2020, according to the country’s Deputy Minister for Regional Development, Adam Zdzieblo. The substantial sum is part of an over EU Infrastructure and Environment programme worth over €24.1 billion. Other than transport, areas of investment will be the same as for the previous EU programme, including health protection, culture, energy, and environmental protection. The exception is higher education, which will

The Algerian Minister of Public Works, Amar Ghoul, has called for the swift completion of studies related to the building of a new 220km motorway linking Ténès Port in Chlef province to Tissemsilt province. Ghoul says the project is seen by the Government as key to boosting Algeria’s economy, as the motorway will open up access to cities and towns, revitalise industrial zones and relieve pressure on the saturated RN19 road between Chlef and Ténès. Large viaducts and a number of interchanges will also be co

Problem tyres played a role in nearly 15% of fatal passenger car and van accidents in Finland from 2000-2009, based on the accident database kept by the Finnish Motor Insurers' Centre. During the 2000s, passenger cars and vans have been involved in 2,647 fatal road accidents. In 393 of these, the accident was caused or at least partly caused by the installation of bad or wrong type of tyres. In some accidents, there was also found to have been problems with the tyre pressure.