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The US is in desperate need of rebuilding many of its road bridges. This comes from an analysis of official data carried out by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). According to ARTBA’s analysis of the US Department of Transportation’s just released 2017 National Bridge Inventory database, 54,259 of the nation’s 612,677 bridges are rated structurally deficient. The work is needed as these transport links are vital, with Americans crossing these deficient bridges 174 million

Nicaragua’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI) is setting out its road development programme for 2018. In all the plans call for the construction of 171km of roads. Work will be completed for the road from Mulukuku to Siuna, with the first 23km stretch due to open in September 2018 and the remaining 21.5km expected in December 2018. Meanwhile the road from Nueva Guinea to San Francisco should be complete by November 2018. Work started on these two routes in 2016. The project also calls for

Myanmar’s Ministry of Construction in Myanmar has set a budget for road and bridge improvement works for the April 2018-September 2018 period. US$181.5 million will be spent improving transport infrastructure in this period. Five road upgrade projects and 41 bridge improvement works are being planned. So far improvements are being carried out to three road links and 17 bridges.

Construction has been completed for the upgrade of the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed highway, which links the UAE with neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The project cost US$817 million and the work was carried out by the contractor, Abu Dhabi General Services Company (Musanada). The route runs 246km from the Mafraq region in Abu Dhabi to the border with Saudi Arabia. The road has been resurfaced and widened and now features three or four lanes, compared with the two lanes of the original route. The project included

A series of road upgrades is planned for Mindanao in the Philippines. A loan worth US$380 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help pay for the works. In all, the programme of road upgrades will cost $498 million however. Eight roads in Zamboanga Peninsula totalling 277km will be upgraded along with three bridges in Tawi-Tawi Province that will be improved.

Italy saw sales of earth moving machinery climb 15% last year over that for 2016, according to Unacea, the Italian equipment association. In 2017, 12,275 earth moving machines were sold, up 15% on a year-on-year basis, while road equipment grew by 5%, with 491 units. Total sales were 12,766.

The Czech Republic is setting out its programme to develop its road infrastructure network. The plans call for work to build 360km of roads and highways as well as maintaining existing stretches. The construction plans include work on the Prerov section of the D1 highway, a stretch of the D40 from Hulin to Frystak, the Hodejovice section of the D3 highway and the Frydek-Mistek by-pass. They also include work to two sections each of the D35 highway and D11 highway as well as a number of bypasses for the D6

China has plans to build a smart highway in Zhejiang Province. The route will include warning technology and monitoring systems and will be complete in 2022. By utilising this technology the builders aim to boost the speed of traffic by 20-30%, without compromising safety. The 161km stretch of highway will feature three lanes in either direction and will also feature mobile charging systems for EVs. Once the route opens to traffic it is expected to halve journey times from Ningbo to Hangzhou from the

Consultancy firm Michael Baker International has a US$4 million contract from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to provide safer road links and bridges along the southern gateway corridor into Dallas. This project is due for completion in 2021. It will provide a long-term transportation and operational improvement effort to boost safety, cut congestion and while address roadway deficiencies and system linkage for the critical I-35E and US 67 artery.