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Vietnam’s impressive road development programme is now gearing up, with a series of major projects scheduled to commence in 2019. Work is starting on three key projects: the My Thuan 2 Bridge; the Cam Lo to La Son highway section; the Cao Bo to Mai Son highway section. All three of these projects will form part of the Eastern North-South Expressway, with the work being overseen by the Ministry of Transport (MOT). The My Thuan 2 Bridge will cost some US$214.3 million and will connect Vinh Long Province with

South Africa suffered poor safety levels for motorcyclists during 2018, with a 9% increase in fatalities compared to 2017. During 2018 there were 183 fatalities amongst motorcycle drivers and passengers in South Africa, compared to 166 in 2017. Meanwhile there were 508 powered two wheeler riders seriously injured in 2018, compared with 521 the previous year. Of those killed or seriously injured in crashes, 651 were male and 58 were female in 2018, compared with 631 males and 56 females killed or seriously i

Funding has been secured from Japan to help pay for construction of the Thanlyin Bridge No 3 project in Myanmar. A loan worth US$282.5 million is being provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Construction is due to start in March 2019 and should take until 2023 to complete. The new bridge will form part of Asia’s new East-West Economic Corridor.

Mexico is setting a budget for road development works during the coming year. A budget of US$4.14 billion has been set for rebuilding existing roads and building new links during 2019. This budget has been set by the Mexican Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT). Projects being prioritised include the completion of Oaxaca-Puerto Escondido and Oaxaca-Mitla-Tehuantepec Isthmus roads. Maintenance work, link roads from highways to towns and upgrades to 5,500km of roads across the country will also b

The Czech Republic has seen an increase in the road casualty rate during 2018. In all 571 people were killed on the country’s roads in 2018, an increase of 69 from 2017. This was the highest level of road fatalities in the countries for the last three years. August and September had the highest level of fatal road crashes. Of note too is that the Czech Republic has a particularly poor record for motorcycle crashes, with the highest percentage/head of population of any EU nation.

A number of major road and bridge projects are now commencing in China. In Sichuan Province an environmental impact assessment report is being carried out for the Jigzhi-Barkam highway project. Work is starting shortly on the highway, which will stretch 224km and is expected to cost US$4.3 billion to construct. The report is being carried out by the province’s Ecology and Environment Agency. This new highway will provide many challenges to construction due to the topography of the route and will feature 190

A new highway connection between Serbia and Bosnia has been awarded to a Turkish contractor. The €250 million project will be carried out by the Turkish firm, Tasyapi. The project will see a new highway connecting Belgrade with Sarajevo in Bosnia. Building the new highway will improve transport connections between the two cities, reducing journey time and boosting both capacity and safety.

A new programme of road development in Moscow will see around 500km of roads being built by 2023. In addition, the programme will see work on 100 transport infrastructure projects and 50 pedestrian crossings. This will continue the programme that has seen around 100km of roads being built in Moscow each year since 2015. The plans have seen an increase in road works. During 2018, 127km of roads were built.

In the Philippines, a proposal has been made for the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) to be extended. The US$441.6 million project is for a 59.4km extension to the TPLEx route. The proposal has been put forward by San Miguel Corp (SMC). The highway extension would help improve transportation to the north of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The work would extend the route to San Juan from Rosario. The work would be carried out in three stages, with one 18.4km section between San Juan and