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Work is said to be progressing on track in Indonesia with the Trans-Sumatra tolled highway. Construction of the section linking Aceh and Lampung Provinces looks set to be completed by the end of 2014 and is expected to open for traffic in early 2015. So far the work looks to cost in the region of US$625 million, with work being carried out by Hutama Karya. Meanwhile plans are also in hand for a new toll road for heavy trucks only that will connect West Java's Citibung and North Jakarta's Tanjung Priok Port.

A loan worth nearly US$113 million from the China Development Bank will be used to improve key road connections in Ghana. The four sections of road are in the south west of the country and are important links to the country’s oil and gas producing areas. In all, the China Development Bank is providing a lending facility worth a total of $500 million to Ghana’s Ministry for Roads and Highways. Other projects planned from this lending facility include $180 million for paving an existing gravel road that is 40

In the Philippines, companies have been called by the Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines (MCA-P) to bid for a segment of the Samar road project. The MCA-P will be holding a pre-bid conference for potential bidders on 9 January, 2013 and sealed bids are to be submitted by 28 February, 2013. The Samar road project is aimed at upgrading the Wright-Taft-Borongan-Guiuan Road stretching 222km from Western to Eastern Samar.

The Latin American Development Bank (CAF) has granted a loan of US$ 200 million for the modernisation and upgrading of roads in São Paulo, Brazil. The works will include 11 roads covering 316km through 27 municipalities of the state of São Paulo. Of those eleven projects, nine have international concessions.

Concrete roads connecting rural clusters with a population of 250 or more across the Indian state of Bihar are to be built over the next five years. According to Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar, the clusters will be connected with single metalled road to help grow the state's economy. Kumar said Bihar will spend US$4.22 billion (INR230 billion) building more than 34,000km of roads under the Mukhya Mantri Gram Sampark Yojna scheme.

The next Transport Research Arena (TRA) conference is being organised for April 14th-17th 2014 and will be held at La Défense in French capital, Paris. This event is crucial for the transport sector in Europe and is supported by the European Commission, the Conference of European Road Directors and the three European Technology Platforms. The conference focuses on the main challenges in transport and mobility for people and goods, with respect to energy, environment, safety, security and economic factors. T

Atkins has secured a new US$7.5 million two-year contract to provide statewide construction management (CM) services to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT). The contract will see Atkins continue to manage statewide construction projects for ODOT, as it has done since 2009. As part of its previous CM contracts, Atkins oversaw construction efforts for several bridges, as well as for urban projects in four ODOT field divisions. Atkins also managed stimulus-funded projects for roadway rehabilitatio

The Haryana state government in India has given IVRCL a deal worth US$293.07 million (INR 16.05bn) to build a 151km road between Kharak and Malikhapur. The project is scheduled to be completed in 30 months, with financing set to be secured in the next six months.

The Bucharest-Constanta highway works in Romania have finished following the successful completion of the final Cernavoda-Medgidia and Medgidia-Constanta routes. The major US$427.41 million (RON 1.49bn) project, designed in the 1980s, was stopped several times and restarted due to problems with the feasibility studies, lack of financing and cancellation of the contracts with contractors. Meanwhile, Expert Proiect 2002 has been awarded a contract worth US$224,865.60 (RON 781,800) by the national roads author

Ritchie Bros. was today due to stage its latest American unreserved public auction of construction equipment in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Among the more than 560 items up for grabs were 20 articulated dump trucks; 25 wheeled loaders; seven motor graders; 14 hydraulic excavators; and five front shovels. Among featured equipment manufacturers are Caterpillar, Hitachi, John Deere, and Volvo CE. Auction goers were being urged to register to bid, either in person, by proxy or online in real time.

The authorities in Oman plan to improve road safety standards, a topic of key concern in the Gulf States. As part of this plan, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) has commissioned the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to carry out a comprehensive road safety research programme in the Sultanate of Oman. The multi-sector assessment will evaluate road safety performance and compare existing activities against best practice. These will be carried out across 12 different disciplines, including road safety managemen

Increased demand in Latin America for Volvo CE’s SDLG range of machines has prompted the firm to invest in new manufacturing capability. A new manufacturing facility will be constructed in Brazil that will focus on building the SDLG brand of excavators. Called SDLG America Latina, this operation will be the focus of a US$10 million investment in a manufacturing facility at Pederneiras, São Paulo State. The new factory will be alongside Volvo CE’s existing manufacturing complex in Pederneiras, but will be se