Features

Russian operator company NCC (Nevskaya Concession Company) has placed an order with German manufacturer Herrenknecht for the world's largest tunnel boring machine (TBM). The Mixshield TBM, for construction of the Orlovski Tunnel, "will surpass all previous TBMs" with a diameter of 19.25m and it is designed to construct a mega-tunnel to link both halves of the centre of Russia's second city St Petersburg under the River Neva and speed up traffic.

A wide variety of new equipment and technology to assist production at asphalt plants is about to be launched onto the market, while asphalt producers are continuing to look at greener working practices. Guy Woodford reports. Lintec, in partnership with Loesche, recently created what they say is the world’s first containerised Coal Mill Plant for independent coal dust supply at the jobsite which offers mobility and high economic efficiency through the substitution of gas or oil with coal.

Praslin, the second-largest of the Seychelles Islands with roughly 6,500 inhabitants, is a tropical paradise of white sandy beaches, dense jungle and crystal clear seas. Tourism is the island's main source of income, and luxury tourism at that. A road had to be diverted for a new five-star hotel and property development project which will create jobs for around 400 people. The road would have obstructed the residents' access to the sea. Sey-Afrique Exporters from Pinetown, South Africa, won the contra

The new Hyderabad Outer Ring Road (ORR) project is a 158km eight-lane highway encircling the Andhra Pradesh city. It has been designed to relieve congestion in and around the city and to act as a hub for accessing India's national highway network, and is being built for the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority. Indian contractor Ramky Infrastructure is relying on an Atlas Copco MB 1700 hydraulic breaker to break granite as aggregates at a quarry site adjacent to the new road. The rock is bein

The bridge over Auckland Harbour celebrates its half century this year, and it has been given a major upgrade to ensure that safety is maintained in New Zealand's largest city. Mary Searle reports. Auckland is New Zealand's largest city, home to nearly a third of the entire country's population. It's a sprawling metropolis, and its 1.3 million people are spread over 637km² of city, suburbs and islands. The Auckland Harbour Bridge, which celebrates its 50th birthday in May, is a vital link in the city's road

The first bC India event has exceeded all expectations and it is set to become a regular event. Patrick Smith reports A major new construction equipment show has been launched in a nation with a huge appetite for such machinery and a growth rate nudging 9% each year. With billions being spent on infrastructure (roads and highways, power stations, railways, ports and airports), India was a prime candidate for a trade fair to display the latest and local international construction machinery, building materia

The final results of the International Road Transport Union's (IRU) New Eurasian Land Transport Initiative (NELTI)-Phase 2 have confirmed road trade links between Europe and Asia as an economically-attractive and viable alternative to traditional, saturated maritime trading routes. This was unveiled at the recent 6th IRU Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference and Ministerial Meeting held in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, which concluded that removing the remaining procedural impediments at borders and deve

AN INNOVATIVE slurry wall solution has been used by Bachy Soletanche at the Alderley Edge By-Pass project in the UK. Bachy Soletanche provided assistance for the A34 Alderley Edge by-pass project in the UK being carried out by main contractor Birse Civils. This solution was required to tackle challenges posed by the water table at the Welsh Row section. Bachy Soletanche used its experience with slurry cut-off walls, a technique rarely used in Britain on road construction, to benefit a tricky section of the

Huge highway developments are being planned and carried out to further improve East-West transport, with Central Asia a key region as Patrick Smith reports History was made in late 2010, when one of the biggest road building projects ever envisaged in Eastern Europe was given the green-light. It was the occasion when Russian president Dmitry Medvedev signed a law that would allow his country to build its segment of a huge highway around the Black Sea. The idea is to complete the 7,140km highway, wi

Since 1908, the World Road Congress has been the premier international event for roads and road transport. The XXIVth edition held in the Mexican capital Mexico City (26-30 September, 2011), is organised by the World Road Association (PIARC/AIPCR) together with SCT; AMIVTAC (Asociación Mexicana de Ingeniería de Vías Terrestres) and Vivir Mejor, will present current research and best practice, provide a venue for discussion of advances in technology and practice and bring together road transport stakehold