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Argentina is planning two new highway projects to widen and improve key sections of Route 40 and Route 33. A US$291 million project will upgrade a stretch of the existing Route 40 to highway status. The two year project will see the widening of the road between Mendoza and San Juan and the construction work will start in the third quarter of 2017. Argentina’s Transport Ministry has said that the project will be funded by the Federal Government. A second stretch of Route 40 will also be widened and upgraded

Brokk is boosting its range of demolition equipment with the purchase of fellow Scandinavian firm Aquajet. Brokk is a leading manufacturer of remote-controlled demolition machines and its recent acquisition of Aquajet Systems will widen its range of products available. Aquajet is a leading manufacturer of hydrodemolition robots.

The Construction Equipment Association (CEA) reports improvements in UK exports and imports of components and parts for construction and earthmoving machines. According to the CEA report, exports of components and parts showed modest improvements in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared with the third quarter,. This shows a 1.5% increase in weight (tonnes) terms, and an 11.3% increase in value terms.

In 2016, German manufacturers of construction equipment achieved a turnover of €9.3 billion, an increase of 3% compared to 2015. Of note though is that the same period, global sales of construction equipment declined by 1%. German companies managed to perform better than the world market and develop market share. In 2017, they expect another increase in sales by 3%.

Funding has been sourced to pay for widening work on Italy’s important A4 Autostrade. The section from Venice to Trieste will benefit from a finance package worth €600 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Italian bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP). The funding will be supplied to Autovie Venete, the Italian motorway concession firm. This will pay for the construction of third lanes for the highway in either direction, helping boost capacity. The route has been identified as being strate

Nepal’s Kathmandu-Tarai highway now looks likely to be built under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract. This is a revision from the build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model previously suggested. Nepal's Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has announced the change for the project, which had an estimated cost of US$1.04 billion when put forward in 2015. The detailed project report (DPR) for the highway is likely to be set out by consortium, from India. The Nepalese Governm

The organisers of the Samoter construction equipment show and the co-located Asphaltica and Transpotec Logitec events in Verona claim success. Strong visitor attendance for the four day show was recorded, with 84,000 industry professionals from 86 countries entering the turnstiles. The three shows were held for the first time together at the Verona Exhibition Centre, thanks also to an agreement between Fiera Milano and Veronafiere.

Brazilian contractor Odebrecht is facing serious issues with regards to projects in Colombia and Peru. In Colombia the contract to build the Ruta del Sol II highway, at present 54% complete, is being terminated. Odebrecht is one of the partners in the The Consorcio Estructura Plural Promesa de Sociedad Futura Concesionaria Ruta del Sol consortium that was carrying out the contract. The consortium partners have also agreed not to claim for any compensation. In Peru meanwhile there is increasing pressure