News

A series of major highway sections in Serbia should be completed during 2017, including work to two stretches of the key Corridor 10 project. In all, some 122km of highways are expected to be opened to traffic in Serbia during 2017. Greek contractor Actor is building an 18km stretch of Corridor 10 that runs from Surcin to Obrenovac part. This firm is also building a 19.5km section of Corridor 10 from the Ostruznica Bridge that spans the Sava River to Bubanj Potok, and a further 10km section leading to Buban

Construction firm Wijaya Karya (Wika) is heading the consortium that will build the Serang-Panimbang toll highway in Indonesia’s Banten province. The 40 year concession package for the US$825.85 million project was awarded to the state-owned construction firm and its two partners by the Toll Road Regulatory Agency. Wika has a 90% stake in the consortium, with the remainder held by its partners, Jababeka and Pembangunan Perumahan, which each have a 5% share. The construction work will be carried out in three

A loan worth US$230 million from the World Bank will help pay for a major highway upgrade in Bolivia. The highway connects San Ignacio de Velasco and San Jose de Chiquitos in Santa Cruz. The funding will pay for the route to be paved with a new surface, which will help deliver lower journey times for road users, as well as improving safety levels. The upgrade to the road will help to increase capacity and will also provide a boost to the local economy in the Santa Cruz area of the country.

Plans in Argentina call for the construction of a major new road tunnel project. Called the Paseo del Bajo, the tunnel will provide an important connection between the existing Illia highway and the highway joining capital Buenos Aires with La Plata. The 6.7km tunnel is costing some US$650 million and intended to carry trucks and buses only, with light traffic remaining on existing surface routes. Removing heavy traffic from existing routes on the surface will help cut congestion, as well as delivering majo

South Korea is planning a series of highway projects, with existing routes to be expanded and new stretches to be built. The country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has set out a programme of works that will run until 2020. The work planned includes widening 10 existing highways as well as constructing a further 13 new highways. Construction of the roads will help to generate 290,000 jobs and deliver an economic benefit to the country expected to reach US$77.35 billion. The South Korean Gov

The UK Government is finalising its plans for the construction of a road tunnel close to the famous Stonehenge monument in Wiltshire. The 2.9km tunnel will carry the A303, a busy road that carries heavy traffic, particularly during the holiday season when large numbers of tourists pass through the area. The existing route passes close to the Stonehenge monument but the road is widely recognised as being unfit for purpose. As well as carrying cars, it handles a high percentage of large trucks, including heav

A Bosnian minister has expressed concern over the difference between bids by two consortia for a motorway project that includes construction of the Pocitelj Bridge. Bosnia's state-owned motorway company Autoceste FBiH said in May that it had signed a contract worth nearly €108 million with the joint venture of Euroasfalt and Strabag for construction of the 5.8km Klopce-Donja Gracanica subsection of pan-European transport Corridor Vc. A report by the Bosnian news agency Fena said that Bosnia's deputy m

Uzbekistan has set a budget for road construction and repairs during 2017. The target is to either build or repair 260km of roads. Funding for the work will come from Uzbekistan’s Republican Road Fund. A budget of close to US$500 million will pay for the construction and repair work. The road building and repair activity is considered essential to helping the development of Uzbekistan’s economy.

The tender process is commencing for a US$5 billion contract to construct a bridge and a road network of roads in Turkey. The bridge will span the Dardanelles waterway and the project looks likely to attract strong interest from several major international construction firms. The Çanakkale 1915 Bridge will be located at the western end of the Sea of Marmara, a short distance from Çanakkale. The 3.6km long bridge will feature a main span of 2.023km, making it one of the longest suspension bridges in the worl

India’s road crash rate continues to provide a serious cause for concern. The country’s rate of road fatalities is climbing steadily, as levels of motorisation increase. India's National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reported that there were 464,000 crashes in the country in 2015. Compared with the figures for 2011 of 450,000 crashes, this shows a 9% increase in incidents. Meanwhile there were 136,000 reported road deaths in India during 2011, which increased to 148,000 in 2015. Poor driving is thought to

Indonesia has seen an increase in road fatalities although the number of crashes has declined during 2016. This official information was released by the Jakarta Police Traffic Unit, which revealed that 678 people were killed in road traffic crashes in the Greater Jakarta during 2016. This represents a 15% increase from the 591 people killed in road traffic crashes in the Greater Jakarta during 2015. However the number of people involved in road crashes dropped by 2% from 7,569 in 2015 to 7,415 in 2016. Duri

Leading consultant firm WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff is changing its name to WSP in May 2017. The firm says that the name change reflects its recent growth to around 36,700 people globally with 7,100 based in the UK. The new name will cover more than 85 small and mid-sized to large companies that have previously been incorporated into the business. This includes Mouchel Consulting, which was acquired in October 2016, and will become WSP in July when it is fully integrated with the wider business. The name c

Plans are being drawn up in Uganda for the upgrading of the Busega-Mpigi highway stretch. Funding worth US$151 million to help pay for the project is being sought from the African Development Bank (AfDB), which is being delivered in the shape of a loan. Busega lies on the eastern outskirts of capital Kampala and upgrading this 24km section of highway is necessary as it is suffers congestion at peak periods and is unable to cope with current traffic demands. Included in the work to improve this section of hi

Work on the dual carriageway project between the cities of Bogota and Tunja in the Boyaca region is finished, said Colombia's vice president German Vargas Lleras. The 206km project, costing nearly US$367 million, included construction of a 6km dual carriageway.