News

In Malaysia, the government has introduced supplementary police officer services in shopping centres in a bid to cut vehicle crimes in their car parks. The service will be introduced in Suria KLCC, Pavilion, Tropicana City Mall and Sunway Pyramid shopping centres.

It will cost US$ 7 billion over the next 20 years to maintain the US state of North Dakota’s township and county roads, according to a new study by the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (UGPTI) at North Dakota State University. The study highlights how the roads have been affected by truck traffic following the growth in North Dakota's economy. A similar survey was done by the UGPTI in 2010. Spending worth $654 million was suggested on road upkeep for the coming 24 months.

The Serbian government has reported that it is planning to sign a loan agreement with China's Exim Bank for new loans worth US$ 1.1 billion for construction of the Corridor 11 motorway. Minister of Finance, Mladan Dinkic, said that the loan will be used for construction of the Belgrade-Ljig and Pojate Preljina motorway parts. The contract agreement is due to be signed by the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013. Works are expected to start sometime next year.

A total of US $ 91.22 million (PHP 3.8 billion) has been released by the Department of Budget and Management to develop tourism roads nationwide, as well as infrastructure development in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Of the overall investment, $56.58 million is for the building of roads to tourist destinations, while the remainder of the money will go on developing water systems, bridges, ports, and roads in ARMM.

In Chile the authorities are working on plans to improve transport links between capital Santiago and the nearby port of Valparaiso. The Chilean Ministry of Public Works intends to widen the existing Route 68, the main road connecting the Metropolitan and Valparaiso regions. The project will increase the road's capacity by at least 30%. Spanish contractor Abertis will work on the expansion, which includes includes the construction of a third tunnel in Lo Prado. The tunnel should improve traffic flow around

The Zambian Government is launching its Link Zambia-8000 project, which is intended to improve transport within the country. Costing US$5.37 billion this is a five-year project intended to improve connections between the country's 10 provinces. Outlying areas will be provided with better transport links to major conurbations under the scheme, which will also help the country’s extraction industry. Of the total $5.37 billion, $1.57 billion will be for the first phase, $2.24 billion for the second phase and $

A key highway project worth in excess of US$364 million has been revealed in Vietnam. The first package of works for the upgrades to National Highway 20 was awarded by the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam to contractor, Management Board 7. The company will carry out work worth some $220 million, which involves building a 123km road as well as 16 bridges that will link Highway 725 in Lam Dong to Dau Giay Junction in Dong Nai Province. The work is being carried out under a build, operate and transfer type con

JCB’s new US$100 million factory in Brazil has been officially opened as the company strengthens its position in rapidly-expanding Latin American markets. At full capacity, the new plant will have the capability to produce 10,000 machines a year, and it replaces two smaller plants in Sorocaba, São Paulo State, the first of which JCB opened in 2001 to produce backhoe loaders and the second in 2010 to produce tracked excavators.

The authorities in Algeria are planning major road network upgrades for the country’s Sétif Region. Some US$387.5 million has been budgeted for a programme of works that will see a series of major improvements to National roads that connect Sétif Region to Constantine, Bejaïa and M'sila. The Sétif Region has a road network comprising some 3,560km in total.

China is reported to be willing to fund the construction of the Limon road in Costa Rica, on the condition that a Chinese company is responsible for the key infrastructure project. It is understood that China would grant a 20-year loan of US$ 400 million, with a low interest rate, if their condition is met. The Congress of Costa Rica is expected to decide on the matter in November 2012. The Limon road project involves the expansion from two to four lanes of the 70km road from Rio Frio to Limon, and the dev

Colombia’s president Juan Manuel Santos has made a pledge to have over 3,200kms of double-lane roads in Colombia by 2018. A total of 1,700km will be built by 2014. Santos has announced 30 infrastructure projects which form part of the fourth round of road concessions. Six tenders involving works worth an estimated US$ 4.44 billion will be launched before the end of this year.

Nurol-Özaltn-Makyol-Astaldi-Yüksel-Göçay consortium says it will provide half of the US$ 2.7 billion required to build Turkey’s new Gebze-Orhangazi-zmir motorway from its own combined funds. The other half of cost will be covered by a bank loan agreement secured by the consortium.