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Progress remains slow for the construction of the highway connecting Cameroon’s two largest cities, Douala and Yaoundé. The two cities are some 202km apart and the new route is intended to improve transport between Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé, and its key commercial city and port, Douala. The existing National Road No3 linking the two cities currently suffers from heavy congestion and the new route will help alleviate the problem and cut journey times, boosting both capacity and safety. Around 30km of the

A programme of road repairs is due to commence in Russia’s capital, Moscow. A budget of US$ 615.5 million has been set for the works, which will be implemented throughout 2019. The majority of the funding is from the Moscow region. The plan calls for 2,400km of roads to be repaired, with an additional 20km of new links to be built. The plan has been set out by the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure for the Moscow Region.

The Norwegian government has set aside €2.6 million to improve narrow county roads and reinforce smaller bridges. The goal is to upgrade the assets to handle heavier logging trucks in an effort to reduce the number of vehicles and cut down on congestion and CO² emissions, said Jon Dale, minister of transport and communications. According to the government calculations, stronger bridges on narrow roads could reduce traffic by 25%.

Infrastructure Malta, the government’s road agency, is putting out to tender contracts for the upgrade of 170 residential roads worth around €70 million. The work is divided into six contracts and covers a total of 52km of roads as well as 85km of pavement/sidewalks, signage and where necessary stormwater improvements. This latest announcement is part of a wider €700 million upgrade over seven years announced last year. The government let 120 contracts last year, of which 31 projects have started. Fiv

Concern is being expressed at statistics from insurance firms showing uninsured drivers cause crashes in France. The data reveals that the problem is increasing, with casualties caused by uninsured drivers having risen 5% for 2018, compared with 2017 and a worrying 12% higher than 2013. According to the latest information, 30,837 people were in crashes caused by uninsured drivers in France during 2018. The information also shows that 9,518 people suffered serious injuries from crashes involving uninsured d

Croatia has issued a permit for construction of a bridge over the Sava River by Bosanska Gradiska and the border with Bosnia e Herzegovina. Croatia is working closely with the Bosnian motorways company Autoputevi on the bridge, according to Croatian media reports. The bridge is likely to cost around €23.5 million as noted by a bid submitted by the consortium made up of Duro Dakovic Montaza, Zagreb Montaza and Integral Inzinjering. Croatia is to pay €70 million as its share for a bridge across the R

Croatia has issued a permit for construction of a bridge over the Sava River by Bosanska Gradiska and the border with Bosnia e Herzegovina. Croatia is working closely with the Bosnian motorways company Autoputevi on the bridge, according to Croatian media reports. The bridge is likely to cost around €23.5 million as noted by a bid submitted by the consortium made up of Duro Dakovic Montaza, Zagreb Montaza and Integral Inzinjering. Croatia is to pay €70 million as its share for a bridge across the R

The winners of the Plantworx Innovation Awards for 2019 have been announced. This year there were eight categories, which between them attracted 110 individual entries from across the industry. The categories were: Commitment to skills and training;

The contract for the first stage of the Corridor 5C project for Bosnia has been signed. This 48km section of Corridor 5 will itself be constructed in four sections and is expected to cost more than €500 million. Funding for these four stages of the Corridor 5 project is being provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), each of which will fund two stages.

Norway is pushing ahead with a comprehensive plan of road development. The country’s state-owned contractor, Nye Veier, plans to commence work on a series of road projects during 2019. In all these projects will be worth more than €2.3 billion (NOK 22 billion). The plans call for 52km of highways to be constructed, with the Tvedestrand to Arendal link being the first to be buit.

The complete financing for the Autopista al Mar 1 highway project in Colombia has now been secured. Loans of US$713 million from eight banks, seven of which are international institutions, will pay for the PPP project. Firms involved in the project include the Austrian contractor STRABAG and the Spanish firm Sacyr, as well as the local company CONCLAY. Construction work is well underway for the project, which is around 30% complete. Once the highway opens for traffic, it will improve transport and trade in

The tender process is open for the study into the planned Paso Las Lenas tunnel to connect Chile and Argentina. The study is expected to cost US$1.55 million and will be paid for by Chile’s O’Higgins Region. The tunnel will be some 11.5km long and the portal in Chile will be at an altitude of 2,020m while the entrance on the Argentine side will be at 2,364m, allowing it to be used throughout the year. The tunnel has an expected pricetag of some $1.67 billion to build, with the countries sharing the construc