Road Structures

India says it turned its Commonwealth Games into a world-class success, and now it aims to do the same with its infrastructure. Patrick Smith reports. On October, 2010 India put itself on the world stage, and disaster appeared to loom as a catalogue of problems dogged its biggest ever sporting event. Costing nearly US$2 billion to stage, the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever were, according to some, in doubt.

Some of the bottlenecks on the multi-lane Mittlere Ring, Munich, Germany, one of the main arterial roads circling the city centre have been eliminated by the addition of new tunnels. The Luise-Kiesselbach Square, the last section of this road improvement effort, is an important traffic hub south-west of the city where motorways A96 from Lindau and A5 from Garmisch meet, causing long delays in daily rush-hour traffic, writes Patrick Smith.

The northern Spanish city of Bilbao looks set to benefit from a major tunnel construction project aimed at reducing traffic congestion on its vehicle clogged streets. The city is building a new underground metro section, Line 3, which will help carry commuters to and from the city's commercial centre and help reduce vehicle journey times on the surface. This project is also making use of the latest piece of tunnelling equipment from Sandvik, the MT520 roadheader, a powerful machine designed and built at

A new bridge over the River Danube between Bulgaria and Romania is expected to benefit to the economies of both nations. Krasimir Krastanov reports

Spanning Manahawkin Bay, and carrying traffic along Route 72 between Long Beach Island and Manahawkin, New Jersey, USA, the Dorland J. Henderson Memorial Bridge, known as the Manahawkin Bay Bridge, was in need of repair. New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) specified Transpo T-17 MMA polymer concrete patch and T-18 MMA polymer concrete slurry overlay as approved materials for the 12,000m² bridge rehabilitation project on the steel girder bridge. All the bridge deck spalls were prepared and patche

Pipeline & Drainage Systems (PDS), is pointing to its EnviroDeck drainage product saying that unless properly drained, water can cause severe damage to bridges, particularly on deck surfaces where it may become trapped.

A wide variety of products are available to help bridge owners reduce the need for costly repairs. Bridges are one of the most expensive structures on a highway system, and their maintenance, and where necessary, repair will save millions over time. Prevention being better than cure means that anything that can be done to reduce the need for repair is a good investment. For example, a MOOG bucket-type inspection unit has been commissioned for the Naini Bridge in Allahabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Indi