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International interest is said to be strong in the tenders for sections of Vietnam’s massive North-South Expressway project. Japanese and Chinese firms have submitted bids for the eight sections of the route now open for tender. In all the expressway will measure some 2,100km in length. The first phase of the project is for 654km of the route with this work being handled in eight separate sections. These contracts will all be handled under the PPP model. The Vietnamese Government will manage a further three

A major motorway maintenance contract for Canada will be handled by a Dutch contractor, VolkerWessels. The package of works is worth US$116 million (C$150 million). The 10-year deal is for the State of British Columbia. The work will be handled by Volker Wessels’ local subsidiary Lakes District Maintenance. The contract includes a provision to extend the deal by an additional five years.

Sierra Leone is opening the tender process for a major bridge project that will connect capital Freetown with its international airport. Building the bridge is expected to cost up to US$2 billion. The project will be handled under the PPP model and will be offered as a 35-year concession package, with the winner able to charge tolls to use the route. Several international firms have already expressed an interest in this ambitious project. At present the most direct connection between Freetown and the nearb

The government of the Austria’s federal Upper Austria state has included an €800 million Linz bypass in its infrastructure programme up to 2030. However, completion of the bypass may not be until the late 2020s, according to media reports. Linz, the capital of Upper Austria and 30km south of the Czech border, is the third-largest city of Austria and with a population of around 205,000 amid a greater regional population of 780,000.

Further progress is being made with the project to build the 17.2km sea crossing in Mumbai. India.

A new budget for road development works has been set for Colombia’s Arauca, Boyaca, Casanare, Cundinamarca, and Santander departments. Improving road links has been set as a priority by the Colombian Government. For the 10 year period from 2019 to 2029, some US1.2 billion is being budgeted for developing road infrastructure as well as tourism facilities in the respective departments. Of this budgets, around 2/3rds will be provided by the Colombian Government. Local authorities will be expected to provide th

The poor state of maintenance of UK roads is a factor in many crashes while also causing damage to vehicles according to road safety charity, IAM RoadSmart. In a bid to address the issue, IAM RoadSmart is calling for a long-term plan to tackle the problem. According to a survey it conducted, nearly 50% of the respondents have experienced pothole damage to their vehicles. The government’s Transport Select Committee has issued a report stating that the current short-term approach to financing road maintenan

A finance package is being secured for the project to widen Route 2 and Route 7 in Paraguay. The package is worth US$500 million in all. The work for the project is being handled by the Rutas del Este consortium. Sacyr holds 60% of the consortium, with Ocho A holding the remaining 40%. The Rutas del Este consortium holds a 30-year concession for the two routes.

Hungary will soon tender for a new bypass bridge over the Tisza River near Szolnok at a cost of around €77 million. Laszlo Mosoczi, state secretary of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, said a tender for the planning works is to be called in the autumn with a winner announced in early 2020. The entire project could take five or six years. Szolnok, a town of 72,000 in the Great Hungarian Central Plain 100km east-southeast of the capital Budapest, already has a continuous beam St. Stephen's Brid

The Netherlands is evaluating new options for road tolling across the country’s network. A national road pricing scheme could be introduced from 2026, which would see road users being charged by the distance they travel. There is widespread recognition that the existing method, of using fuel taxation to pay for road works, is unsustainable as the EV fleet grows. Three options are being analysed. One would see drivers of electric vehicles being charged/km, while internal combustion engine vehicles would cont

Tough new laws are to be introduced in the UK for drivers. New regulations will mean that drivers who cause road fatalities while using their mobile phones will face a life sentence in jail. At present, the most serious driving offences can result in a 14 year jail sentence in the UK. However the new laws will see the maximum life sentence being imposed instead. The aim is to send a message to drivers that bad driving is unacceptable. In 2018, 122 people in the UK were sentenced for causing death by