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Funding worth US$500 million has still to be secured for road works in Paraguay. A consortium, Rutas del Este consortium, requires the financing to carry out the widening and upgrade work to Ruta 2 and Ruta 7. The work will be carried out under the PPP model, the first time this has been utilised in Paraguay. Rutas del Este comprises the contractors Sacyr and Ocho A. The consortium will operate the highway under a 30 year concession.

The package of works to construct the Pocitelj-Zvirovici stretch of the Corridor VC motorway in Bosnia has been awarded to two Chinese contractors. The 11km stretch of the route will cost nearly €103 million to build. The work will be handled jointly by the Synohydro Power Company and China State Construction Engineering Company. The package of works was awarded by Bosnia’s motorway company, Autoceste Federacije BiH. A portion of the funding required is being provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB).

A proposed upgrade to the road connecting Costa Rica’s capital San Jose with nearby Cartago has been put forward. The project would cut journey times to just 30 minutes. The current route is known for its traffic delays, handling around 51,000 vehicles/day. The new route would feature a 3.2km section of flyover and the estimated cost is US$400 million. Should the project get the go ahead, work would commence in early 2021 and should take around two years to complete.

Urban road safety is a key problem in Europe, an issue that needs to be addressed as a priority. That is the finding of a new report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). The ETSC’s report reveals that road deaths on urban roads decreased at around half the rate of those on rural roads over the period 2010-2017. The report also shows that vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, account for 70% of those killed and seriously injured on urban roads. Dovilė Adminaitė-

The plan to build a bridge linking the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with the Republic of the Congo has stalled once more. The road/rail bridge bridge is intended to provide a better connection between the DRC and the Republic of the Congo. The bridge would be around 4km long and the project was first proposed some years ago and the project to build the structure was restarted in 2017. However it now faces opposition in the DRC from Congo Uni/ABSL. According to this group, building the bridge would

EvoQuip is holding an open event in North America that will showcase live working demos of its crushing and screening equipment. The manufacturer is co-hosting the event with distributor Emerald Equipment in Bridgewater, New Jersey on July 25-26. Equipment on show will include the Bison 280, Cobra 230 and 230R as well as the entire Colt range. Sean Donaghy, EvoQuip USA sales manager, commented: “EvoQuip are delighted to be working with Emerald Equipment on returning to the USA for a second open even

A new computer system is said to offer huge benefits for maintaining transport infrastructure. This is the product of a world-leading computing project and is called Data and Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure, DAFNI. The project commenced in 2017 to provide world-leading research capabilities to help improve the UK’s infrastructure systems, by making them more resilient and effective. DAFNI can help ensure the UK’s infrastructure is sustainable by running detailed simulations that show a range

Singapore is opening the tender process for a major road project. The tender is for the construction and design of a section of the North South Corridor (Viaduct). This new link will connect Yishun Avenue 5 and SG Seletar. The tender process is being handled by Singapore’s Land Transport Authority. The closing date for the tender is 29th August, 2019. When fully complete in 2026, this highway will measure 21.5km in length.

A new ring road project is being planned for the city of Kemerovo, in Siberia.

New road connections will have to be built for the second Parana River crossing in Paraguay. In all around 37km of new road connections will be required, costing US$180 million. This work will also require the construction of two smaller bridges as well as an overpass section. Financing for the work is being provided via the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).

A new bridge crossing for the Lena River is being proposed in Russia. The bridge will provide a connection between Yakutsk and Nizhny Bestyakh. The bridge is expected to cost upwards of US$900 million to build, with the project likely to be offered under a concession package. A number of consortia comprising both Russian and international firms have already shown interest in the project.