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Work will start on the 120km Sibiu-Pitesti section of Romania’s A1 Freeway in 2017, Romanian media report. Around €1.6 billion will be spent on the route that will run through 20km of mountains. In February, the National Highway and Roads Company, CNADNR, selected the Milan-based Spea Ingineria Europea and Tecnic Consulting Engineering of Romania to update the feasibility study on the section, which is part of Romania’s A1 Freeway. But that contract has been challenged and will be scrutinised by th

INTERMAT is well-established as one of the biggest international shows for the construction equipment, machinery, technology and materials sector. This year INTERMAT and World of Concrete have pooled their expertise and reputations to launch World of Concrete Europe (WOC Europe). This collaboration will better meet the needs of the European concrete market by providing a comprehensive view of the sector.

The Ministry of Land Transport in Venezuela has announced expansion plans for the Valle-Coche motorway in Caracas that will include the largest viaduct in Venezuela. The project, worth nearly US$200million, will involve work on 7km of road, an elevated section over the BusCaracas Los Ilustres bus station, bridges alongside the El Pulpo interchange, as well as another bridge over El Valle River. Bridges over the interchange will have four lanes in each direction and a fourth lane will be added to the r

In Ethiopia, three road projects worth over US$240 million will be built as part of the country's fourth road sector development plan. The government will fund the projects using its own resources. The first project is the 83km Sodo-Tercha asphalt-concrete project, costing around $84 million and to be built by China Railway Seventh Group. Completion is scheduled for 19 months. The second project, worth $102 million is the 99km Bilbela-Sekota road project, scheduled to take 39 months and to be built

The new Luanda corridor project in Angola will receive funding worth in excess of US$216 million. Phase two of this project to build new corridors for public transportation in Luanda Province is due to commence shortly. The $14.1 million contract to supervise the project will be handled by DAR Angola. Meanwhile Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht has a $202.6 million contract to build the new transport corridors.

A series of major highway projects are in planning for Indonesia. A joint venture comprising Waskita Karya and Jasa Marga is now taking over Solo-Kertonoso Toll Road project. This follows a move by Thiess Contractor Indonesia (Thiess), which sold its 95% equity in the Solo-Kertonoso Toll Road project to the joint venture for US$33.65 million. Construction is commencing in May 2015. The 177.7km road, which is to be built as part of the Trans Java Highway, will link the cities of Kertonoso and Solo via Ngawi

Key road project tenders for the state of Tamil Nadu in India have now been awarded. The three project tenders are worth a total of US$117.1 million. The work relates to upgrading major routes in the state and work will be carried out in 36-42 months-time. The tenders involve upgrades of the Malliyakarai to Rasipuram, Thiruchengode and Erode Road, Arcot Villipuram Road and Kanchipuram to Vandavasi Road.

Fence sitting can prove risky, image courtesy of World Highways reader Giacomo Goretti

Delays are afflicting construction of a new highway that will connect with Algeria’s key East-West highway. The problems focus on the new highway being built to join Béjaïa with the East-West highway. The US$1.02 billion highway project was originally planned for completion by June 2016. However a shortage of construction workers from the local area for the 5,000 or so required means that personnel will have to be recruited from further afield, whether Algeria or neighbouring countries. Delays are also bein

The French Government is announcing a series of key investments for highways in Ile-de-France. The €810 million programme will target updates to highways and expressways not currently covered by concessions in Ile-de-France. The aim of the policy is to boost mobility, improve traffic flow, cut noise pollution and to provide reserved lanes for buses and taxis. The financing of this programme will come from the State-region plan.