The go ahead has been given for a major highway project in China’s Yunnan Province. The US$3.25 billion highway will connect Shangri-La and Lijiang. The project has received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission of China. In addition, approval has also been given by the National Development and Reform Commission for the $471.8 million Zhejiang section of the highway connecting Hangzhou with Nanjing.
Two major awards have been given to the Gateway Upgrade Project in Queensland, Australia. One of these was for engineering excellence while the other was the overall RW Hawken Award. These were given as part of the Engineering Australia Awards Queensland Division) scheme. Following this, the Gateway Project will now be a contender for the national Australian Engineering Excellence Awards being held in November 2012.
World heritage body UNESCO has given its approval to plans for a e40 million road bridge near Germany’s world-famous Lorelei Rock. The bridge, crossing the River Rhine at St Goarshausen, will be the first on an 85km stretch between Koblenz and Mainz in the Mittelrheintal Valley, for which there is a preservation order.
It has been estimated that a tunnel under the river (as an alternative) would cost up to €70 million.
