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Kazakhstan has set a budget of US$1.08 billion that will be used to build new roads as well as to upgrade and maintain existing links. In all the country has 23 separate road projects planned, which will see improvements to 4,200km of roads in all. Tolling systems are being installed on three major routes.

A new expressway project is being planned for India’s Uttar Pradesh State. A loan worth US$1.75 billion is being provided by the Punjab National Bank that will help pay for the construction of the route. Building the new expressway is expected to take three years to complete. Revenue from the tolls collected will be used to pay back the loan inn a series of installments.

Aggregate Industries has won a four year extension to its contract for road maintenance from Highways England. The new deal is managed through the new Category Management Framework. Worth some £2.3 billion, this will see Aggregate Industries working on five of the six Major Regional Lots to provide pavement works on projects where the pavement element is estimated at over £1 million, irrespective of overall scheme value. The value of the works to Aggregates Industries is estimated to be in excess of £500 mi

The recent Hillhead quarrying equipment exhibition set an attendance record according to the show organisers.

A framework document has been set up for public organisations and private companies to work on pilot projects under the SOCRATES2.0 interactive traffic management programme. The pilots will start in June next year in the regions of Amsterdam, Munich, Antwerp and Copenhagen. The framework is the result of an agreement last year by six road authorities from four countries and some international service and traffic information providers.

Technology groups and agencies have until August 16 to enter the Transport-Technology Research Innovation for International Development (T-TRIID) competition. Under the Applied Research Programme in High Volume Transport (HVT), the competition funds short projects for safer and more efficient transport within low-income countries in Africa and South Asia. The programme is implemented by development and infrastructure agency IMC Worldwide, supported by the Knowledge Transfer Network – a UK agency for p

Work is now underway on a new road project that will improve transport around Ghana’s capital, Accra. The Chinese contractor Zhongmei Engineering Group is carrying out the work to construct the Pokuase Interchange, as well as a number of connecting roads. The interchange will feature three levels, with the work costing US$84 million and due for completion in the second quarter of 2020. The interchange is located to the north west of Accra on the N6 highway, which leads to Ghana’s second city, Kumasi.

The tunnel project to connect northern Poland’s Uznam and Wolin islands is now getting the go-ahead.

A special course being held at Newcastle University in the UK is intended to help road construction professionals with knowledge on asphalt road paving. The course is being managed by Roger N Bird, Senior Lecturer in Highway Engineering at Newcastle University. The course will run from the 3rd September to the 7th September 2018 at the university. This course is being run by Newcastle University’s Transport Operations Research Group.

Road widening on the Tullamarine Freeway in the Australian city of Melbourne is helping to cut congestion. The US$962 million (A$1.3 billion) project is nearly complete, but the sections finished already are now having a positive benefit for traffic flow. This has reduced journey times to and from the city’s main airport, with further benefits expected once the work on the route is completed in August 2018.