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Roads Australia is encouraging its members to get behind TravelSmart, the government-led campaign to promote sustainable transport alternatives and reduce our reliance on private cars. A number of TravelSmart initiatives and programmes were highlighted at a recent meeting of RA's Congestion Chapter. It was stressed at the meeting that Roads Australia members could set an example for the community by getting its organisations more involved in the programme.

Roads Australia steps up in policy debate as road construction feels the pinch of the credit squeeze, as Mark Bowmer (RA media director) reports Like all markets around the world, Australia is feeling the effects of the global credit squeeze and its impact on the delivery of major infrastructure projects such as roads. In Sydney, for example, lack of funding (both from government and private sources) is seen as the major stumbling block to the construction of a much-needed eastern extension to Sydney's main

Not long after the recent completion of the successful EastLink project (a 39km motorway providing a vital connection for 1.5 million people in Melbourne, Australia) the Victorian Government has started work on another missing link in Melbourne's freeway network further south with the construction of Peninsula Link. Peninsula Link is a key project in the Victorian Government's AUD$38 billion (US$32 billion) Victorian Transport Plan. With a AUD$750 million (US$630 million) price tag, the project is expected

What can contractors gain from a sustainability strategy and why is it now a vital business imperative? Abigroup, one of Australia's leading and most diverse national contractors, has developed a sustainability strategy suited to its industry, workforce and business. World Highways discusses this and other issues with Sarah Marshall, Abigroup's national environment and sustainability manager. In the past a responsible business was viewed as one that performed strongly within legal boundaries to maximise pro

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has drastically changed the way governments and the private sector is prepared to procure vital infrastructure projects, says Philip Davies Governments have responded to the GFC by focusing on long term investment in transport infrastructure and shorter term stimulus packages to kick-start economies. As these projects proceed, the focus will shift to maintaining and achieving maximum benefits from assets and future infrastructure funding. The Public Private Partnership (PP

German company WEIRO has helped to introduce new microsurfacing technology to Estonia to upgrade its roads Estonia's rapidly growing road network requires modern and cost effective road surface rehabilitation technologies. As a result of technological and economical evaluations of the Estonian road network, it has been stated that repairs and upgrading of the existing network will remain the first priority, especially the repair of ruts, which represent a major problem in Estonia. The aim of a trial run of

In Brazil, concrete pavers from Wirtgen are being used to improve sections of the BR-101 highway as well as to construct concrete safety barriers. The use of these machines is of note as it is the first time concrete paving has been used on a federal road in Brazil. The 1st Army Engineering Division of the Brazilian Army is carrying out three of the eight North Eastern sections, as the construction work had to be speeded up project because the road is deemed crucial to the country's economy. Two Wirtgen SP8

Concrete paving machines from Guntert & Zimmerman have been carrying out important surface repair jobs around the world. In Belgium a paver from the firm recently completed a high speed road repair, while at Qatar's New Doha International airport one of the firm's S850 units has carried out a major apron paving contract. The new airport is being designed to cope with large passenger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and the Sinohydro-Gamuda-WCT joint venture was awarded the contract to build two runways, thr

The latest technology continues to improve the quality of concrete paving while contractors are also benefiting from more adaptable equipment - Mike Woof reports For many concrete paving applications, versatility is required rather than a high production rate. Leading paver manufacturers such as GOMACO, Power Curbers, Terex and Wirtgen all offer high mobility machines that can be adjusted to cope with an array of tasks. For a contractor, the advantage of these smaller pavers is that they can be configured q

The latest compaction technology offers users the benefits of more accurate performance by combining heat detection and compaction metering with GPS In Europe several leading manufacturers now offer more accurate compaction technology, with Ammann, BOMAG, Dynapac and Hamm all having developed advanced control packages. The technologies vary widely but the advantages are broadly similar, with smart compaction allowing the user a greater degree of control over the compaction process and delivering major reduc