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A Chinese construction firm has managed to win a series of key highway contracts in China as well as overseas. The China Railways Group has contracts worth a total of US$1.58 billion in total for infrastructure projects.

The Brazilian authorities are looking to renegotiate contracts for a series of state road concessions that were auctioned up to 15 years ago. The intention is to improve the roads while cutting the rate of return for the concession holders, with controls on tariff rates to restrict price increases for users.

A joint venture comprising Impregilo and Astaldi is to handle a key road upgrade contract in Italy. The deal is worth some €791 million and will be carried out over a period of 92 months.

Following its December Forum on ITS for Urban Mobility, Ertico ITS Europe has published a 20-page report of the presentations from the high level speakers and participants from public authorities and industry given during the in-depth examination of the role and opportunities for ITS in urban mobility.

Mexico’s president Felipe Calderon has inaugurated the new Baluarte Bridge, which crosses the Baluarte River in the Sierra Madre mountain range in the north of the country. This 1.12km long bridge is 403m high at its central point over the steeply sloping ravine it spans, making it the highest cable-stayed structure in the world.

Serbia has managed to reduce the cost of building the Corridor 10 highway by €80 million. These funds will instead be used to pay for upgrades and improvements needed for the second section of the highway project, close to Neradovci. So far some 180km of the Corridor 10 highway has been built over a 40 month time frame. A further 150km of the highway has still to be built. Work on the Corridor 10 motorway is also being financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the state budget.

The tender has now been published by the Israel National Roads Company for the upgrade to Road No 85, a project expected to cost US$134.2 million (500 million NIS). The work includes widening and building an interchange on Roads No 85, which along with improvements to Road No 65 forms a key component of the Netivei Israel plan.

Reports suggest that up to 1 in 7 vehicles (14%) on US roads may be uninsured. Based on vehicle population figures this indicates that over 37 million vehicles are being used illegally.

Contractor Bechtel has worked with Network Rail to complete a major road bridge upgrade in the UK. A construction team worked 104 hours consecutively to replace the bridge, located at Reading Station.

With China slated to be the world’s biggest market for auto sales and exports by 2025, and demand for electric vehicles expected to be the highest in emerging markets, global auto players should have a clearer vision of the way forward on issues critical to the industry.