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Brazil is planning a series of highway maintenance projects in a bid to tackle it serious backlog of works. Improvement works will be carried out on the BR 158, BR 163 and BR 364 highways, which have been prioritised for their importance to transport and the Brazilian economy. These routes run through Mato Grosso, Para and Rondonia states. A budget of nearly US$699 million has been set by transport infrastructure body DNIT for the highway upgrades. In all 11 projects will be carried out and the work will se

BOMAG now has a new president, with Jörg Unger handing over the running of this business to Ralf Junker. In future, Jörg Unger will focus on the development and growth of the FAYAT Road Equipment business as president of the entire FAYAT Road Equipment Division. Ralf Junker has extensive experience at BOMAG. He has worked for BOMAG since 1988, been a management member since 2001, and managing director of BOMAG since 2009. He is currently responsible for production worldwide and, as president, will assume re

Riccardo Viaggi is the new secretary general of CECE. Viaggi is representing the sector for the EU institutions and is managing the association’s Brussels office. Previously, Viaggi has been Secretary General of European Builders Confederation (EBC), a post he held from 2009. In this function, he represented European construction micro, small and medium-sized enterprises from the 20 affiliates and partners of EBC in Brussels. CECE’s president Bernd Holz is confident that Riccardo will help strengthen the vi

Work on a major road project in Ecuador now looks set to restart now that a financing package for the work has been determined. The Circunvalacion Norte ring road in the city of Cuenca is expected to cost US$520 million, with the plans calling for three lanes in either direction along a 6km section between Guangarucho and the Panamericana Norte motorway. The route will measure 50km in all and will be tolled, with the project now looking set to be carried out under a concession model. The project is not allo

Construction of a new expressway is intended to improve the connection between Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh and Vietnam’s capital, Ho Chi Minh City. This is the product of discussions between the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments. The project is expected to cost US$650 million and the new link will feature three lanes in either direction and will run alongside the existing Highway 22 in Vietnam and Highway 1 in Cambodia. The new route will feature a maximum speed of 120km/h and will stretch for 65km in

Mexico’s road network is suffering a crisis due to a sustained period of poor maintenance and underfunding. This is the finding of the Mexican Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT). Its report reveals that almost 113,000km of the country’s federal road system, around 30% of the entire network, is in need of repairs or upgrades. Poor road conditions have slowed vehicle speeds on the network and also been the cause of crashes, an issue SCT is keen to alleviate. However the combination of insuffici

Funding is being provided for the construction of new tolled lanes on a highway close to Denver, Colorado. The funding will be provided by the US Federal Government in the form of a loan worth US$109 million. In all the project will cost $276 million, with the state providing the majority of the remaining funding required. The funding will be used to widen a 20km section of the route connecting Wadsworth Boulevard with Interstate 25. The widening work is expected to be complete by 2019 and is intended to he

Work is set to commence on a new bypass in Australia’s Victoria State in 2019, with the work planned for completion in 2022. The new Mordialloc Bypass will run from the existing Dingley Bypass to the Mornington Peninsula Freeway. The project is expected to cost US$226.3 million (A$300 million).

Improved sales of construction machines have been seen in Italy in the first three months of 2017. In this period sales climbed 6% compared with the first quarter of 2016. There were 2,094 units sold in all, 2,005 items of earthmoving equipment and 89 road construction machines. “The market is growing but on a lower level compared to last year,” said Paolo Venturi, president of Unacea. He added that the sales of new generation machines that meet the latest emissions targets could help further reduce urban p

Nearly 130 original equipment manufacturers and their supply Chinese supply chain component makers were represented – the most at any previous CONEXPO/CONAGG event. OEMs included XCMG, Sany, Zoomlion, Shantui, Sunward, LiuGong and SDLG.

Tender problems are afflicting Taiwan’s Tamkang Bridge project. The recent tender process for the project has failed. This is now the third time the tender for the project has fallen through. A new tender process for the project will open shortly. With the tender process facing such issues, the project looks likely to be further delayed until after 2020. The country’s Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) has now increased the budget allocated to the project to nearly US$310 million in a bid to ensure the w