Road Structures

Yotta DCL wins prized M40 UK surveying contract

August 7, 2013

Highway’s technology and surveying company Yotta DCL has won a contract to provide surveys for Carillion on the M40 between southern England and the West Midlands worth €433,641 (£375,000). Yotta DCL were awarded the five-year contract after being shortlisted through an e-auction, which sees vetted survey providers bid against each other for the survey work. Carillion holds the Operation and Maintenance agreement with UK Highways, which is the M40 DBFO (design, build, finance and operate) company. Yotta DC

Gateway WA Alliance agree costs for Perth Airport road project

August 7, 2013

Gateway WA Alliance consortium, led by Leighton Contractors, has reached agreement with Main Roads WA on the price, scope and construction methodology for the US$896.07 million (AUD1 billion) Gateway WA Perth Airport and Freight Access Project. The Contract Cost Target agreed with Main Roads WA is valued at $805.56 million (AUD899 million) of which Leighton Contractors has a 68% share. The Gateway WA Alliance includes Leighton Contractors and partners Georgiou, GHD, AECOM, and BG&E. It was awarded the Perth

Avtodor tender for new section of Moscow-St. Petersburg road

August 6, 2013

Russian state company Avtodor is to announce a tender for a new €3.42 billion (RUB 149.1 billion) section of Moscow-St. Petersburg toll highway. The new section will be between the road's 334th and 543rd kilometres, which passes through the Tver (Central) and the Novgorod (North-West) regions. Avtodor will hold a Dutch auction. Private investments will account for about €229.07 million (RUB 10bn) of the project's financing (own and borrowed funds in equal measures), and the remaining funds will come from th

Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) anger over East West Link

August 6, 2013

The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) fear the design of the proposed multi-billion dollar East West Link highway in Melbourne will have a “substantial visual, environmental and amenity” impact on peoples quality of and the open spaces they enjoy. Kirsten Bauer, president of the AILA Victorian Chapter, has attacked the plans for the 18km tolled motorway, set to run from the western suburbs to the Eastern Freeway, after she and other Victorian AILA members had reviewed the “so called detai

Washington DC to get new US$900mn bridge

August 5, 2013

A new bridge project to replace Washington DC’s Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and two traffic ovals at each end of the new span have been submitted by the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative and the District's Department of Transportation. Washington DC-based radio station WAMU has reported that the new US$900 million bridge project will transform the DC neighbourhoods lining the Anacostia River. The current four-lane Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, built in 1950 and named after slavery abolitionist Fr

China Railway 15th Bureau Group’s US$212.02mn road contracts

July 30, 2013

China Railway Construction Corporation's subsidiary, China Railway 15th Bureau Group, has won four bids worth more than a combined US$212.02 million (CNY 1.3 billion). One of the contracts is for the construction of main underground tunnel and road for Zhengdong New Area transport hub. Another contract is for a 40.28km highway reconstruction project in Tibet autonomous region. A third contract is for a 6.01km road project in Qinghai. The remaining contract is for a 22.2km section of a highway in Shandong.

Bridge blast allows new Ohio River crossing

July 30, 2013

A 213m section of the Old Milton-Madison Bridge was recently blasted into the Ohio River in the United States to make way for a new river crossing. Workers rigged the structure with small controlled explosives and took it down shortly after 9.15am on Sunday 28 July 2013. Small explosive charges were placed at key locations on the bridge. The charges were detonated at intervals to control the direction of the fall. Pieces of the truss will be retrieved from the river, placed on barges, and taken to the shore

Contractor bankruptcy delays Romanian road project

July 26, 2013

The recent bankruptcy of the Austrian contractor Alpine Bau has affected a number of key projects across Europe in countries including Norway, Poland and now Romania. Following Alpine Bau’s bankruptcy, Romania’s national roads authority, CNADNR, cancelled the Austrian contractor’s contract to build a section of highway from Nadlac-Arad. So far, Alpine Bau has been paid €69.5 million to build a 16.6km section of the highway and around 85% of the work has been completed. It is not clear at this stage how the

Leaks hit Czech Blanka Tunnel and boost costs

July 26, 2013

Further problems have hit the Blanka Tunnel in Czech capital Prague. The link has been hit by a series of delays and is now suffering from leaks. The project is costing €1.43 billion and is due to open in May 2014. The company building the tunnel Metrostav, has stated that the leaks are likely to be temporary and should be dealt with by the time the link opens to traffic, when it will become part of the Prague ring road. Construction work started on the tunnel in 2007 but the project has faced a series of p

Major new highway links planned for Nigeria

July 26, 2013

Work in Nigeria will start on upgrading the Keffi-Lafia road in Nigeria to a dual carriageway status along its route. The US$1.8 billion project will run through Benue State capital Makurdi to Enugu, the capital of Enugu State and will be constructed by Chinese contractors. The route is of major importance to Nigeria and carries a heavy traffic volume at present. Constructing the dual carriageway will pose challenges given the topography at various sections of the route. Also in Nigeria, Chinese funding wil