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Much of the necessary funding has now been secured for construction of the first section of Chile’s Americo Vespucio Oriente (AVO 1) highway. A loan package worth US$832 million is being provided jointly by a number of funding bodies. These are; Banco Estado, Bci and Banco de Chile. In all the project is expected to cost $984 million. The construction work is being carried out by a consortium comprising Sacyr and Aleatica (formely OHL Concesiones).

Financing is being sought in Australia for the a major tunnel project in New South Wales. The project is for the Western Harbour Tunnel, which is intended to run underneath Sydney Harbour. The route for the proposed tunnel would rund from the Rozelle interchange to the Warringah Freeway. The tunnel project forms part of a wider plan to build new road links in Sydney, in a bid to help reduce the city’s traffic problem. The new tunnel would lower journey times for drivers by cutting congestion on the famous S

A highly advanced prototype system Trimble is working on is based on the Earthworks package and is intended to reduce the risk of contractors hitting buried utilities when carrying out digging operations. Scott Crozier is general manager of Trimble’s general construction division. He said that this mixed reality solution is an emerging technology that will be available in the near future. The package is integrated into the machine display and provides a visual reference for the operator where buried utiliti

Lane Construction and Blythe Construction are working in joint venture on a project to extend the Triangle Expressway in North Carolina. The US$403 million project will take until 2022 to complete and is complex as it includes building 29 bridges. The 13km highway stretch, NC 540, will link US 401 with Interstate 40 and will feature three lanes in either direction. The aim of the project is to lower traffic congestion around the city of Raleigh. The new highway stretch will be built using 290,000m2 of concr

Trimble and HCSS are partnering to couple estimating and bidding workflows to field operations. The firms say this collaboration will include product integrations to Trimble's construction software portfolio, helping boost productivity and quality for construction. The companies plan to develop solutions to improve current workflow and real-time visibility for customers by connecting bidding and estimating processes to developments onsite. Trimble and HCSS are currently exploring how best to bring HCSS's

A consortium will build a bypass around Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

A new bridge is being planned in Russia that will span the Ob River, in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area in the Urals. The new 1.6km-long bridge will be the second to be constructed across the Ob River, with the first lying close to the city of Surgut. The new bridge will form part of a project to build a 44km highway section, with the new route expected to take 40 months to complete and at an estimated cost of US$645.5 million. The development of new transport infrastructure is desperately needed in the re

The Trimble Earthworks system now allows excavator operators using tiltrotators to use automatic machine control, which can help to boost productivity. When tiltrotators are used with Trimble Earthworks for Excavators, the bucket position and orientation are visible regardless of bucket rotation. The operator can see the height and the rotation relative to the design, so the attachment can be more efficient. With this latest development, Trimble Earthworks can automate the tilt functions of a tiltrotator.

Trimble’s Site Vision package has been offered on limited release to a number of firms in EEP (early engagement program) format, to help develop the system. Scott Crozier is general manager of Trimble’s general construction division. He explained that Trimble is working with a number of selected customers at the leading edge of construction technology, so as to help refine the system for release in due course. These firms are encouraged to use the Site Vision package in parallel with existing systems. De

A new bridge is now open to traffic in Norway. The Hålogaland Bridge has a total length of 1,533m and a main span of 1,145m and is Norway's second longest suspension bridge. The structure was designed by COWI and crosses the deep waters of Rombaksfjorden in northern Norway. The bridge will improve road safety, as well as reducing the distance between Narvik and Bjerkvik by 18km. The pre-existing route around Rombaksfjorden is frequently exposed to landslides and the opening of the bridge shortens travel tim

The organisers of the Plantworx 2019 construction machinery exhibition are bullish, having now sold 75% of the show space available. The 2019 event is taking place at its new East of England Arena home in Peterborough. This has 20% more exhibition space than the 2017 event. The digging demonstration areas are 97% sold out – with only two stands remaining. Angela Spink, Plantworx sales manager said, “We are delighted with the response we have had from companies wanting to book their stand space at the show