Road Structures

Japan is to provide Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans worth more than US$900 million for road and other development projects in Myanmar. The multi-million dollar loan will be used for renovation and basic infrastructure in Yangon and for the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, said an official from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Currently, JICA is working on a master plan to develop Yangon, including more than 70 programmes that include renovation of the city's public transportation sys

The scientific institute on traffic safety Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Verkeersveiligheid (SWOV) in the Netherlands has called for many national roads to be widened to cut accident levels. SWOV argues that a large share of Dutch roads with a 80km/h maximum speed limit are too narrow. Such roads are on average 7.5m wide, making them, SWOV says, among the narrowest in the world, with traffic having an average 2.75m of space to use. According to SWOV this should be at least 3.3m, which, it claims, cou

The state Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) says it has received a report from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in which the federal agency concludes that installing temporary seismic elements will make the new East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge safe for traffic, and should be put in place as soon as possible. This FHWA plan involves inserting large steel plates, known as shims, into each of four bearings, improving their ability to safely distribute energy during an ea

Serbian Minister of Construction, Velimir Ilic, has announced that the Chinese Ministry of Economy has approved Serbia a loan of €249.61 million for the construction of the Corridor 11 motorway. Ilic said that the works on the motorway will begin in September 2013, after the loan was approved by China's Exim Bank at the end of June 2013. The major infrastructure project will include construction of the Obrenovac-Ub and Lajkovac-Ljig motorway sections covering a total length of 50km. The Chinese company Shan

A total of €954.13 million will be spent repairing 7,700kms of Ukraine’s roads during 2014, according to Yevgeny Prusenko, head of the state agency of automobile roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor). Prusenko said the agency, who will carry out all repair works, will be fixing 3,600km of regional public roads and 4,100km of communal roads.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to lend US$410 million to Vietnam for the construction of the Second Southern Highway that links Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta. The arterial highway will consist of two cable-stayed bridges measuring a total of 5km, and 26km of interconnecting roads and associated access. The interconnecting roads and two bridges are expected to reduce the three-and-a-half hour travel time between Long Xuyen and Ho Chi Minh City by an hour, while the 90-minute travel time between

Peruvian plans for infrastructure projects will see up to US$10.7 billion worth of concessions being awarded during 2013. This contrasts strongly with the $700 million awarded in 2012. One of the main highway projects is for the $552 million Longitudinal de la Sierra route. This will be put out to tender in the fourth quarter of the year according to Peru’s state investment promotion agency, ProInversión. Other key concessions being put out to tender in the fourth quarter are the $556 million Chinchero Airp

The construction of the Inter-Oceanic Corridor in Guatemala is expected to get underway in April 2014, following the completion and approval of feasibility studies. The project will require between US$ 10 billion and $12billion in investments and unite the Pacific with the Caribbean through the construction of a 372km motorway, two railway lines (for freight and passengers) and five pipelines. A total of two ports will also be constructed, one in the Pacific and one in the Atlantic. Construction works will

A huge array of construction machinery from leading international equipment manufacturers was deployed by Balfour Beatty recently to demolish a farm access bridge over the M8 motorway between junctions 4 and 5 to enable the completion of slip roads for the new Heartlands junction in West Lothian, Scotland. The Cowhill Bridge demolition was a major milestone for Ecosse Regeneration in the construction of Junction 4a. Ten excavators equipped with hydraulic breakers and munching attachments were used to remove

Several Spanish firms with operations in Colombia have gained pre-qualification for two tenders to build and maintain two roads in the country requiring an estimated combined investment of US$1.15 billion. OHL Concesiones Chile and OHL Concesiones Colombia (part of the Spanish OHL group), Sacyr Concesiones Colombia (part of Spanish group Sacyr) and Ortiz Construcciones y Proyectos Colombia, and Acciona Concesiones Chile (part of the Spanish group Acciona), are pre-qualified for the Pacific 2 Connection. The