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A new report examines how aggressive government belt-tightening and financial market deleveraging restrained worldwide infrastructure investments for 2012 and probably for the next five years. In the US, for instance, Infrastructure2012: Spotlight on Leadership, released by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Ernst & Young, says that constrained public budgets and a growing recognition at the local level of the importance of infrastructure, combined with lack of action at the federal level, are causing state

The new hydrogen plant of speciality oil company Nynas has been inaugurated in Nynäshamn, Sweden, by County Governor Per Unckel. The SEK 800 million (E85.4 million) investment safeguards the refinery's supply of hydrogen and lays the foundations for future expansion. Next year Nynas will be switching its raw material for the production of hydrogen to natural gas, reducing the company's carbon dioxide emissions by 20,000tonnes/year.

German company HUESKER, which specialises in geosynthetics for the construction industry and textiles for industrial and agricultural applications, is celebrating its 150th birthday this year. The business concept of the classical cotton weaving mill was originally founded by H & J Huesker & Co in December 1861. In 2010, the International Geosynthetics Society committee presented HUESKER with the IGS Award for the development of high-strength geosynthetic reinforcements from innovative raw materials.

Joanna Oliver, the Construction Equipment Association’s (CEA) Director of Global Programmes, has been awarded an MBE [Most Excellent Order of the British Empire] in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. She is one of a select few recipients recognised for their services to industry, and is rewarded for over 16 years of promoting UK exports.

Construction work is due to start soon in south Germany on the upgrades to 41km of the A8 autobahn at a cost in the order of e305 million. Work will include widening the road to six lanes between Augsburg-West and Neu-Ulm. The project is being carried out under the public private partnership (PPP) model, and is due for completion in September, 2015.

The tender process to construct a €1.3 billion highway project in the Bosnian autonomous entity of Republika Srpska is underway and will be open until 2 September, 2011. Bosnia's Ministry of Transport has held talks with a total of five companies so far. The highway will run from Glamocani through Banja Luka and to the town of Mrkonjic.

Astucia SolarLite road studs have been recognised as one of the top three safety projects in Poland. The company’s Polish partner, Lunaro, was alerted to the need for more efficient road safety measures, and assisted in the planning and deployment of studs on Road No 3 near Przybiernow, Western Pomerania.

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.