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Latin America’s high rate of road traffic deaths is giving major cause for concern. Data collated by the International Automobile Federation for nine of Latin America’s nations reveal an average of 16 deaths/100,000 inhabitants caused by road crashes. The information was collated for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, revealing that there were 61,926 deaths from road crashes in the countries in 2013. Brazil’s fatal crash rate is particularly high with some 40

In Uganda planning is underway for the upgrade of the Kampala-Jinja route. Preparations are being made for a new tolled highway connecting with capital Kampala. The upgrade will see the route being widened with four lanes for much of the length, six lanes on the approach to Kampala and up to eight lanes where vehicle densities will be heaviest to carry the capital’s traffic. The construction work is expected to cost some US$74 million and the new link will connect with the existing Kampala-Entebbe highway.

The Doka Group continues to expand its operations with the acquisition of an Australian company. Called Lubeca, this firm was the former formwork technology department of its previous owner, the Australian contractor Grocon. Doka acquired the formwork patent for the Lubeca Jumpform system, along with employees and a project portfolio from Grocon. The acquisition will strengthen Doka’s presence in Australia through its new Melbourne-based subsidiary operation, as well as in the Middle East and East Asia. Dok

Widening work to a 453km section of Brazil’s BR-163 highway will be carried out by the consortium, Rota do Oeste. The firm is the current operator of the highway and is receiving a US$298.84 million loan from national development bank BNDES to fund the necessary widening of the route. The deal has been approved by the Brazilian land transport agency, ANTT. The funds will also be used to provide maintenance work for this section of the BR-163 highway.

Austrian contractor Strabag will lead the consortium constructing a stretch of the S7 expressway in Poland. Strabag is teaming up with Heilit+Woerner for the project to build the Trasa Nowohucka section of the S7 linking Rybitwy and Igołomska and lying to the east of Kraków. Construction work is commencing in August/September 2014 and the contract is worth around €130 million. The consortium is handling the upgrading and construction work for some 18.6km of roads in all. The work includes widening a 4.5km l

Japanese contractor Cojaal's contract for the construction of a stretch of Algeria’s East-West highway has been cancelled. The Algerian Ministry for Public Works terminated the contract as the firm had not met the requirements of the initial agreement when the deal was signed. The exact cause of this contract cancellation has not been revealed and nor is it clear if this development will bar the firm from tendering for future projects in the country. Much of Algeria’s East-West highway is complete but some

In Vietnam work is now underway on a major new highway that will connect Ho Chi Minh city, Long An and Dong Nai. This 57km highway is currently the biggest road project in Vietnam’s southern region. The four-lane highway will have a speed limit of 100km/h and the project is costing some US$1.6 billion. The project is due for completion in 2018.

A legal challenge has been made to a key road and tunnel project in the Australian state of Victoria. The proposed East West link project is worth some US$5.63 billion in all. Local authorities are planning legal cases at the Supreme Court against the project, which includes a 4.4km stretch of tunnel. The package of works for the tunnel section is due to be signed in November 2014, with this link planned to open to traffic towards the end of 2019. It is not clear at this stage if the legal challenge will de

A series of important new road links in Malaysia are now being built in a project worth some US$107.7 million. The project is being carried out by local contractor WCT Holdings. The deal was awarded to the contractor by the oil company Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Corp (Petronas). The contract involves the construction of permanent and construction access roads for the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) complex that Petronas is building in Malaysia’s Johor State.

Data from Italy reveals a worrying trend with regard to road rage incidents. In the first six months of 2014, cases involving aggression between road users has led to 76 serious incidents. This has included five deaths and 16 serious injuries. Police data suggests that the number of road rage incidents is increasing. Drugs played a role in just 5% of incidents while only nine of the 76 incidents took place at night.