News

Astec Industries Inc. founder J. Don Brock has stepped down as president of the Chattanooga, US-based company, and Norman Smith, who co-founded the company with Brock, will replace the 73-year-old CEO as president and chief operating officer. The new "decentralised company structure facilitates the development of a strong internal management team," Brock said. Smith, 72, has served as head of the company's asphalt division since 1998. He was president of both Astec Inc. and Heattec Inc, and has been a direc

Serbian Minister of Construction and Urbanism, Velimir Ilic, claims the China Roads and Bridges Company (CRBC) has verbally agreed to invest €2.5 billion (US $ 4.8bn) to enable the construction of the Corridor 11 motorway. Ilic said that an official CRBC offer to fund and build the key motorway route will be submitted from the beginning of September 2012.

Local government leaders in the Russian city of St Petersburg have announced plans for a ‘highway frame’ around the historic city centre. The highway with uninterrupted traffic flow will connect the Primorsky district to Obvodny Canal with an entrance to Western High-Speed Diameter. The project offers to resume bridge construction across the Malaya Neva from Petrogradskaya Storona to Vasilyevsky Island, to reconstruct Obvodny Canal embankments, and to build a highway with a bridge in range of Fayansovaya an

A new 507km Mediterranean bypass to encourage economic growth in northern Morocco is a step nearer to completion. The 120km Jebha to Tétouan stretch of the overall US $ 805.85 million (MAD 7.2bn) project has just had its inauguration. As well as being a potential key to economic growth, the bypass will improve travel conditions for around three million northern Morocco residents,

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world’s largest industrial auctioneer, will celebrate the Grand Opening of its new UK auction site with an unreserved public equipment auction on 18 September, 2012. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place on the morning of the auction to officially mark the opening of the Canadian firm’s new Donington Park, central England base.

Around 72,500 foreign drivers have already registered for the electronic toll payment system set up at motorways which connect to the Spanish border, according to Portuguese road agency (Estradas de Portugal-EP). Implemented on 1 July, 2012, the ‘Easy Toll’ system is a pre requirement to drive on SCUT motorways. Within the overall registration total, 30,961 have registered for the ‘Easy Toll’ on the A25 motorway, connecting Aveiro and Vila Formoso.

New Zealand Green Party spokesperson, Julie Ann Genter, has called on the government to reduce the US $ 9.73bn (NZD 12bn) earmarked for a national road upgrade project. According to Genter only 400,000 vehicles, 4% of the nation’s 11 million vehicles, are expected to use proposed new roads linking Tauranga, Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton.

GE Capital Fleet Services has announced the launch of a new eco-focused website that provides access to the company’s depth of knowledge regarding alternative fuels and related sustainable products. The website can be accessed via: www.gefleet.com/eco.“Our new, enhanced eco website presents users with an interactive and educational experience that shows how our green solutions can help optimise customers’ fleets,” said Deb Frodl

St Petersburg’s road building and repair projects could be valued at US $443.15 million (RUB 14.10bn) by the end of 2012, according to Russian daily newspaper Kommersant. The main contractors said to be bidding for projects are Mostostroy 6; Mostootrayd 19; Vozrozhdenie; Dorozhnik-92; VAD; Buer; ABZ Dorstroy; Pylon; Lendorstroy-2; and Akros.

Cemex, the largest cement maker in the Americas, has won more than 90% acceptance of an offer to extend maturities on US$ 7.25 billion of loans by three years. Support for the proposal, whose acceptance deadline was extended to 7th September, is said to have bolstered Cemex’s efforts to prevent a financing crunch in 2014 by pushing maturities to 2017.

The joint organisers of the Road Engineering Association of Asia & Australasia (REAAA) Conference, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 26 to 28 March 2013, have announced that registration is now open on the event website - www.14reaaaconf2013.com. The theme of the event is The Road Factor in Economic Transformation, the focus of which will be on the development and maintenance of an efficient road infrastructure to meet the demands for sustainable economic growth in developing countries.