News

Strong interest is being shown in the tender process for a major highway project in Portugal. The Portuguese Road Agency, Infraestruturas de Portugal - IP, has so far received 11 bids for the construction of the first section of the Via dos Duques highway. This route will connect Coimbra between the junction of the main road A13 and the A25 highway in Mangualde and also through Viseu. The bids were well below the initial reference price and 72km of highway will cost an estimated €320 million.

Photo of the month September 2015, Don’t encourage bad driving – image courtesy of World Highways reader Albert Muloiti

A series of major highway infrastructure projects are planned for the Philippines. Plans are in hand for the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) project, with MPCALA Holdings calling on the authorities to give final approval so that construction can commence before 2017. MPCALA Holdings is a subsidiary of conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments (MPIC) and won the 35-year contract to build, operate and maintain the CALAX in June 2015. The CALAX project is worth US$754.6 million. At present, the company is lookin

Overpass projects are being planned for Myanmar to help cut traffic congestion in key areas around the country’s commercial centre, Yangon. One project proposal has been submitted by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This will see the development of elevated roads on the Wai Zayandar Road. The cost of constructing the elevated roads has been estimated at some US$2 billion. The project looks likely to be carried out under build-operate-transfer model.

The Polish government will spend around US$28.3 billion over the next eight years in one on the country’s largest new-road investment programmes. Nearly 4,000km of motorways and dual carriageways will be constructed as well as 50 ring roads around urban centres. More than 1,000 sections of roads deemed dangerous will be rebuilt, according to a report in the Polish newspaper Gazeta Prawna. The announcement comes after the Poland’s road and motorways authority GDDKiA said in June that it plans to awa

The US state of Missouri said it is fighting a losing battle to maintain its 641 bridges that are listed in critical condition - one-step away from being closed to traffic. Engineers in the southern state’s department of transportation said around US$820 million is needed to repair or replace the 641 bridges, three of which were closed to traffic last year. The critical list has expanded with the addition of 50 more bridges since last year. And the critical list is expected to grow to around 1,500 bri

A novel tunnel project has been proposed in Brazil. The local infrastructure group Contern has suggested building a tunnel underneath the Serra do Mar nature reserve along the coast of Sao Paulo. The new link would improve access to the southern coastal area of that state, including to Santos port and the industrial area known as Baixada Santista. The project would be carried out under the PPP model so as to provide the necessary funding. The tunnel would have to be 21-23km long and would feature twin tubes

Rebuilding work is planned for a historic bridge in the US state of Pennsylvania to ensure it remains able to carry current traffic volumes. The work is being managed by consulting engineer Michael Baker International. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) selected Michael Baker International for the US$5 million engineering and design project that will focus on the western spans of the Market Street Bridge in Harrisburg. Rehabilitating this critical traffic artery in Pennsylvania's capital re

The European Parliament has accepted that powered two-wheelers will play a significant role in sustainable mobility, helping reduce both traffic congestion and pollution. The European Parliament adopted Wim van de Camp’s “Report on the implementation of the 2011 White Paper on Transport: taking stock and the way forward towards sustainable mobility”. In the report motorcycles are seen as part of the solution to solving the problems in urban transport. Powered two wheelers can help tackle congestion and park

The European Parliament has reiterated calls for a pan-European target to cut serious road injuries. In a vote on a review of European transport policy since 2011, MEPs called for, “the swift adoption of a 2020 target of a 40 % reduction in the number of people seriously injured, accompanied by a fully-fledged EU strategy.” Since 2010 the number of people seriously injured on EU roads has been reduced by just 1.6%, compared to an 18% decrease in the number of road deaths. Last year the numbers actually

The long running saga of Algeria’s East-West Highway should come to a key point soon, when most of the route will finally be open to traffic. The 1,216km-long route will be fully operational at the end of October 2015. This is of course with the exception of the Lakhdaria section, which still requires rehabilitation work to be carried out. The repairs are expected to carry on until May or June 2016. Contractors from all over the world have been involved in the East-West highway project but certain stretches

Official data from the UK reveals the scale of the safety problem facing pedestrians on the country’s road network. This shows that nearly 18,000 pedestrians were injured in an incident involving a vehicle in 2013, the most recent year with full analysis currently available. The charity is calling for an even greater focus on pedestrian protection to make cars safer and raise awareness of the risks.