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The authorities in Queensland, Australia have agreed a 50-year deal over the tolling rights for the Go Between bridge and the Legacy Way motorway in Brisbane. The agreement was settled by the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC). Under the terms of the deal, Brisbane City Council will be paid by QIC-owned Queensland Motorways Limited (QML) from A$1.08 billion to A$1.58 billion over a seven year period. Brisbane City Council will retain ownership of the tunnel and bridge and the plan is to use the revenue

A Sennebogen 6130 HD duty cycle crawler crane is said to be being successfully used by Gral Schotter to extract gravel near Graz, Austria. In the Wundschuh gravel pit, the 6130 HD model is working in dragline bucket operation. At an extraction depth of 13m the crawler crane is said to be penetrating particularly hard layers, a key reason why Gral Schotter was keen to use a duty cycle crawler crane of its size. An impressive 354kW is provided by the model’s diesel engine. The 6130 HD’s two powerful winches e

Financing from Taiwan will help develop road infrastructure in Guatemala. Both the Taiwanese Government and private Taiwanese sources are supplying funding streams to Guatemala for transport infrastructure development. The Taiwanese Government is donating US$50 million to help improve the section of the Atlantico road connecting Sanarate and El Rancho. Taiwan is also providing a further $50 million in the shape of a loan for the project. This loan will be repayable over a 20 year period. The Atlantico road

Key highway projects in Sri Lanka are now moving forward. Chinese investment will finance a new tolled highway in Sri Lanka. The project for the US$1.5 billion tolled highway is being handled jointly by China Merchants Hua Jian Highway Investment Company and China Merchants Holdings (International) Company. The agreement is to build and operate the highway over a 25-30 year period, and which will be constructed in four separate phases. The first phase will be from Enderamulla to Ambepussa, with the second f

Financing for a road project in Mozambique is being provided by a bank in India. The Exim Bank of India is proving a line of credit worth some US$147.7 million for the road upgrade project. Mozambique is seeing steady investment in its infrastructure and this latest project will improve transport links in the country.

There is “no reason for any worries” in the global construction equipment and building material manufacturing industry despite a lack of growth in 2013, according to the German-based VDMA association. In a release issued after the association’s summer board meeting in Hameln, northern Germany, a VDMA spokesperson said, “Bauma, the industry’s leading international fair held in April, in particular helped to change the industry’s mood significantly. Directly or indirectly it led to a great number of new order

As this video clip shows, efficient bridge demolition work has a lot to do with effective planning. Bringing down this defunct bridge over a busy highway called for careful planning so as to minimise traffic disruption. Proper preparation allowed engineers to make the site ready for a closure of the highway, with the bridge then being brought down within a tight timeframe. Having sufficient excavators fitted with hydraulic breakers was a key component in ensuring that the work could be carried out in time,

The French government is considering lowering the national speed limit from 130km/h to 120km/h on motorways and from 90km/h to 80km/h on roads. The move, being led by Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls, comes after the recent announcement of a drop in the number of deaths on roads in France during the first half of 2013.

According to a study conducted by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) on 5,248 drivers from 2009 until 2012, the nation’s women drivers are angrier than men but experience fewer road deaths and crashes. Overall, 18% of the 13.3 million registered drivers in the country are categorised as ‘high-anger’ drivers.

FEHRL, the partnership organisation for national road research centres, has established a new road infrastructure innovation forum. This is intended as a focus for road innovations that can then be developed through FEHRL’s Infravation and related programmes. This portal is not for research proposals but is instead intended to aid in identifying the possible impact, benefits and time to delivery of innovations for road construction and maintenance as well as possible applications for other modes. The Infrav