News

The UK firm Amey Consulting is working on two innovative projects utilising smart technology to improve air quality around major A roads and motorways.

The UK’s Department for Transport is providing £348 million of funding to help improve local roads over the next four years. This funding will be available for local authorities to bid for, allowing them to work on major maintenance projects, as well as on projects that will ease congestion on the UK’s busiest roads. This announcement follows a £6.6 billion investment in local road maintenance in the last five years The funding will be available in two stages for local authorities to bid for in an effort t

Chinese companies look likely to play key roles in major expressway construction projects in Thailand. The Rama III-Dao Khanong-Western Bangkok Outer Ring Expressway project is being handled in four separate sections, with the deals being finalised in September 2019. Major Chinese contractors are amongest the leading bidders for three of the four sections.

A new agreement has been reached that will foster more cooperation and collaboration with regard to engineering at an international level. The International engineering federation FIDIC (the International Federation of Consulting Engineers) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the China International Contractors Association (CHINCA). This move is intended to improve collaboration between international and Chinese businesses, facilitate skills and knowledge transfer and increase the unders

Volvo CE reports strong financial performance on the back of healthy sales. The firm says that improvements in the key European and North American markets, coupled with a strong focus on its service business, volume flexibility in the industrial system and tight cost control have helped the company to deliver a good all round performance in its second quarter 2019 results. Net sales in the second quarter increased by 10%, amounting to SEK 26.814 billion, compared with SEK 24.403 billion in Q2 2018. Operati

Construction work is commencing on the project to build a new expressway link in the Philippines. The new road section will link the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx). The project is costing nearly US$430 million to build and should be ready by 2021. The route will be 8km in length and will feature two lanes in either direction, reducing journey times considerably between the SLEx and the NLEx routes. The work is being carried out for Metro Pacific Tollways (MPTC).

New Zealand’s Mount Messenger bypass project has attracted some controversy and opposition. The 5.2km route will cost around US$129 million (NZ$200 million) to construct and will include two bridges as well as a tunnel section. The alignment has been selected from five options as it minimise environmental damage. However there are complaints from environmentalists that the project will damage a 44ha area that includes forest and wetlands as well as posing a threat to some endangered bird life.

Building the North East Link in Melbourne, Australia, is expected to improve transport and reduce chronic congestion in the city. This will be Victoria State’s largest road building project and will cost US$11.14 billion (A$15.8 billion). The proposed alignment runs through the existing Bulleen Industrial Precinct, which will be relocated as a result.

The tender process is opening in Bosnia for a key tunnel project. The new Racin to Ivan Tunnel section will form part of the important Corridor 5C route. Financing for the project is being provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The work is expected to cost €50 million and the project will be managed by Bosnia’s state-owned road business, Autoceste FbiH.

The tender process is opening for a new road link to connect with Sydney International Airport in Australia’s New South Wales State. Called the ‘Sydney Gateway Project’ the new road link is expected to cost in the region of US$1.55 billion (A$2.2 billion) to build. The new route would improve transport connections between Paramatta, on the city’s western side, and the airport, located to the east. Building the new road connection is expected to help lower peak time congestion and journey times for drivers.

New data shows that Europe’s rural roads have seen a major improvement in safety levels. For the 2010 to 2017 period, road deaths on rural roads decreased more quickly than those for urban roads. Urban road safety is now becoming a key concern. Of particular concern for urban traffic is the high casualty rate amongst vulnerable road users (VRUs), which represent around 70% of those being killed. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists still face unacceptably high risks of being killed or seriously injured o