Road Structures

Bridge replacement funding approved

May 10, 2012

The UK government has confirmed the funding to build a replacement for Northside Road Bridge in Workington, which was destroyed in the floods of November, 2009. Local Transport Minister Norman Baker said that the Department for Transport will provide £11.17 million (e13.25 million) towards the new permanent crossing of the River Derwent in County Cumbria. The council’s Cabinet last month approved Birse Civils, part of the Balfour Beatty Group, as the preferred contractor to build the new bridge.

Proposal for bridge to link Malta and Gozo

May 10, 2012

Authorities in Malta are continuing to examine options with regard to a road link connecting to the neighbouring island of Gozo. A competition was put forward to design a new bridge link between Malta and Gozo by ITS Malta. However the authorities are now evaluating the feasibility of building a tunnel.

Prague tunnel construction complete

May 10, 2012

Drilling work on the Blanka road tunnel in Czech capital Prague has now been completed. The new tunnel will become part of the Prague ring road once it is open to traffic. Construction commenced in 2007 but the project has faced a series of problems, including three collapses. The original cost was estimated at nearly €870 million for the construction works, €172 million for technology and €65 million for survey work. However, due to the problems the link has suffered the project is expected to cost close t

Czech republic to fund infrastructure projects

May 10, 2012

The authorities in the Czech Republic are counting the cost of bungled planning for a series of infrastructure projects. The works will now have to source funds from the Czech Government following a ruling by the European Court of Auditors that the tender processes for the projects were flawed. The original plan was that the EU Operational Programme Transport would have paid for the works but instead, the Czech Government will finance the projects itself. However, only one project will have to be almost 100

Major highway link for Albania

May 10, 2012

Construction work has started on Albania’s latest highway project, which will connect the capital Tirana with the city of Elbasan in the centre of the country. Construction work on a 32km stretch of the highway, including a 4.3km tunnel, is being carried out by Greek contractor Aktor.

Bridge construction changes increase costs

May 9, 2012

The cost of the Strait of Messina bridge looks set to climb from original estimates.

Helsinki's tunnel project

May 9, 2012

A novel approach to utilities installation will lengthen the life of Helsinki's streets, reports Mike Woof. A major utilities project in Finnish capital Helsinki will offer huge benefits for the city's streets and traffic flow rates in years to come. A new tunnel system is being excavated under Helsinki for the power company Helsingin Energia, although this will be co-owned by the city. Called the Common Utility Tunnel (Meilahti-Pasilak-Käpylä LU2), the excavations form an extensive network spreading out un

Riga's newest bridge improved traffic flow

May 9, 2012

An alliance of companies has come together to realise major infrastructure projects in Latvia including its biggest bridge. Patrick Smith reports. Riga, the Latvian capital, has the finest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in Europe and its centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The city of some 750,000 people (the country's total population is 2.2 million) is bounded to the south by Lithuania and to the north by Estonia, and is the second largest in Baltic States. To the east is Russia and Belarus.

Tunnel inspections reveal safety compliance need

May 9, 2012

Results show the state of Europe's tunnel infrastructure at its 'most sublime and most depressing quality' as Patrick Smith reports. EuroTAP [European Tunnel Assessment Programme] 2010 has unveiled the results of inspections conducted earlier this year in 26 major tunnels in 13 European countries. The on site inspections, carried out between 12 April and 20 May, 2010, are said to indicate that an "alarming number of operational tunnels across Europe will not be ready to comply with EU tunnel safety rules wh

New Penang Bridge takes shape

May 9, 2012

Construction work on the longest bridge in Malaysia and South-East Asia is well underway. Malaysia and South-East Asia is well underway. When completed, the cable-stayed bridge will have a two-lane carriageway and a motorcycle lane in each direction, and will connect Batu Kawan on the mainland to Seberang Perai and Batu Maung on Penang Island. The main span will be 250m long with a length over water of 17km and a 30m height above the water. Costing an estimated US$1.5 billion the 24km long bridge is being b