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Planning work for Chile’s Chacao Bridge project is underway at present. The new suspension bridge will provide a link to Chiloe Island and will be the longest structure of its type in Latin America when complete. Because of the risk of major earthquakes in the area, the bridge has to be constructed to cope with substantial shocks. The project is being handled by the Consorcio Puente Chacao consortium and has been in the design phase since February 2014. Chile’s Ministry for Public Works wants to ensure that

The government of Finland’s autonomous Åland will build a 0.5km bridge to connect the islands of Degerö with Gripö, according to the newspaper Nya Aland. Work will also include improvements to the harbour in the town of Fogla on Degero and a new road on Gripo. Around €40 million will be needed for the work.

A recent survey by Sweden’s National Audit Office (Riksrevisionen) shows that the Transport Administration (Trafikverket) needs better data to make road maintenance more cost effective. There is a lack of data on the type of road damage and to what sections of road, according to a report in the daily Svenska Dagbladet. But the National Audit Office also noted that the administration is underfunded, making it less likely that maintenance would be done at the best price for the taxpayer and in a timely fashio

Electric drive machines could represent the future for the construction and extraction industries. This is the finding of a new new report from IDTechEx Research. Titled Electric Vehicles for Construction, Agriculture and Mining 2017-2027, the report predicts that electric vehicles for the construction and extraction and agriculture sectors would represent a $81 billion market by 2027. Major manufacturers such as Caterpillar, John Deere and Komatsu are currently building hybrid machines while other smaller

Ethiopia’s road development programme is continuing. Nearly 1,200km of roads have been built in the country in the nine months to the end of the fiscal year at the start of April 2017. Local firms accounted for nearly 610km of road construction according to the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA). Meanwhile the remaining 590km or so of road construction was carried out by foreign construction firms. The country’s road building programme is still underway with close to 130 projects being carried out. These proje

Florida’s road safety record is giving cause for concern. The stretch of US Highway 1 running through Florida has been identified as having the worst road crash record of any highway in the US. Analysis shows that there have been 1,079 fatal crashes in the last 10 years on the road, which runs for 872km through 13 counties in Florida. Other highways in the US known to have poor records for road safety include US 83 in Texas, US 140 in California, Interstate 40 in Arizona, and US 18 in South Dakota. For US 1

Chile’s Ministry of Public Works has launched the bidding process for construction of a 150km dual-carriageway in the region of Antofagasta. The new road will take in the communities of Calama and Sierra Gorda and include five flyovers and three rail overpasses, in addition to improvement works on the roundabout to access Calama. Technical offers are expected by July followed by financial analysis reports by August, according to the ministry. The estimated cost is around US$290 million. Meanwhile,

Authorities in Vietnam’s southern Ho Chi Minh City are seeking prime ministerial approval for the nearly 2.2km-long Thu Thiêm Bridge 4 project. The six-lane bridge will cost more than US$230 million and be a build-transfer contract, according to a report in the Vietnam Investment Review. In September, Ho Chi Minh’s City’s People’s Committee said it is considering three investors for the work - Phát Đạt Corporation Real Estate Development, Investment Corporation 620 and 168 Construction Development Investmen

The first stage of the 3.3km Escenica Alterna Tunnel in Acapulco was opened this month. The three-lane tunnel – one is reversible – is costing around US$62 million and will improve connections between coastal areas and Diamante zone, as well as access to Acapulco International Airport. Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Secretary of Communication and Transport, said that the project would be concluded in June with construction of Cayaco-Diamante elevated road. The project is funded by the National Infrastructure F

Thailand has seen a major improvement in road safety during the most recent Songkran holiday period. The number of road deaths during the Songkran holiday period dropped by 17% compared with the previous year. During the first five days of the Songkran holiday, there were 2,985 road crashes with 283 deaths and 3,087 injuries. In the Songkran holiday during last year there were 2,724 road crashes but 338 road deaths. Drink driving was the biggest cause of crashes at 45.26%. Motorcycles were involved in 78.96