Road Structures

A landmark tunnelling project is commencing in New Zealand - Kristina Smith reports. New Zealand is preparing to embark on its biggest transport project ever. In August it announced that it had selected its preferred bidder for the NZ$1.4 billion Waterview Connection in Auckland, 5km of new motorway connecting highways to the North and South of the city.

Long reach excavators now dominate the demolition sector - Mike Woof reports

Work has started on the long awaited San Jose-Caldera Highway in Costa Rica, following numerous delays and setbacks. The new 77.5km highway will be used daily by more than 81,000 vehicles, reducing the travel time between the Central Valley and the Central Pacific Coast by at least 30 minutes.

Cornwall's Saltash Tunnel on the A38 trunk road is a crucial link between the county, and the neighbouring county of Devon, and is used by 38,000 motorists per day. Opened in 1988, the 410m long road tunnel in south-west England, is a single bore with three traffic lanes, and is part of the tidal flow system across the three-lane Tamar Bridge. The central lane has a speed limit of 30mph (48km/hour) and operates as a reversible lane to cope with holiday and rush hour traffic.

Italian firm Indeco is now offering a novel compressor system that can be mounted on an excavator being used with a breaker in tunnelling operations.

A Power Curbers 5700C machine is being used underground in Turkey to slipform the U-shaped concrete platforms on the walls of a new tunnel project.