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Colombia's Transport minister Miguel Peñaloza said the government intends to award key national motorway maintenance contracts from June 2013, starting with the contract for the section between La Pintada and La Manuela, part of Autopistas de la Prosperidad. The second contract would be awarded in December of the same year, said Peñaloza, with all contracts due to last be six years. ISA will not be taking part in any of the projects.

Royal Haskoning DHV has been selected to tackle 30 major traffic bottlenecks in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh over the next two years. ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA) decided to award the US$1.87million (€1.5mn) contract to the Dutch project management, engineering and consultancy service provider following a call for tenders. The population of Riyadh has risen dramatically over the past few decades and currently stands at around 5.4 million and, as a result, the city's roads and motorways are reach

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is providing a loan worth US$200 million to Argentina’s Government that will be used for road improvements. The loan will be directed towards safety and capacity upgrades to provincial and national roads. The funds will be channelled through the government programme Programa de Infraestructura Vial Productiva II. More than 4,000 people died in road traffic accidents in Argentina during 2010 and the authorities are looking to improve the safety levels and reduce the

ijaya Karya (Wika), the Indonesian governmentowned construction service provider, will build toll roads linking Kedung Badak to Kedung Halang and Pandaan to Gempol in Bogor through two contracts worth US$36.35 million and $24 million, respectively. Awarded by highways operator Jasa Marga (JSMR), the contracts require the roads completion in 18 months. The operator of the Tangerang- Merak Toll Road, Marga Mandala Sakti (Marga Mandala), will be allocating U$17 million to increase the toll road’s capacity. It

Deutz is set to increase its presence in Asia in a bid to achieve greater overall company growth despite the ongoing tough global economic climate. The German diesel engine manufacturer says its plans to create a joint venture in China with Volvo are “making headway”. The firm also says its recently established joint venture with Shandong Changlin Machinery Group in Linyi, in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, is “rapidly gaining momentum”.

According to Centauro-ASAPS data, hit and run accidents in Italy increased by 33 per cent in the first half of 2012. Out of a total 461 accidents, 57 resulted in fatalities, up by four per cent year-on-year, while the number of casualties increased by 35 per cent to 564. Police managed to find those responsible for hit and run accidents in 265 instances out of the total 461.

Road Congestion is a serious issue in some areas

A series of major highway construction and road repair projects is planned for Serbia. The World Bank (WB), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have all been in talks with the Serbian Government concerning funding for the work. Funding worth €408.46 million has been approved by the three banks for programme of highway construction and road repairs.

A new highway is planned in Malaysia that will run through Terengganu State and link Hulu Besut and Hulu Terengganu. The local authorities are setting funds aside worth nearly US$160 million for the highway project. The work will be carried out in stages and will take 36-48 months to complete. The first phase will be for a 40km stretch of the highway and is expected to cost some $35 million.

A complex legal tangle is surrounding Brazil’s BR-101 highway concession. The signing of the concession deal was suspended following the issue of two separate injunctions by the country’s legal authorities. These injunctions also delayed bidding that had been planned by the ANTT, Brazil's National Authority for Terrestrial Transport. The concession for the BR-101 highway was originally won in January 2012 by with a bid that was lower than the minimum set by the Brazilian Government.

Work on an extension to the express lanes on the I-95 Interstate highway in the US will be carried by Fluor Enterprises and the Transurban Group. The two companies have a 76 year concession package to operate and maintain the toll road infrastructure for the section of I-95 under a joint venture arrangement, 95 Express, The 147km stretch of express lanes on the I-95 highway will be owned by The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) however.

A delegation of 50 German CTE customers spent three days at the CTE plant in Rivoli Veronese, north east Italy. The visitors saw demonstrations of ZED, TRACCESS and B-LIFT aerial platforms and work being done at the headquarters of Green Car Ponti sul Mincio (MN), the painting workshop for CTE. The full list of equipment presented and made available for demos was: CTE truck-mounted platforms ZED 21 JH; ZED 20 C; ZED 20 CH; and ZED 26 JH; B-LIFT 20.13 MULTIPURPOSE; B-LIFT 201; and B-LIFT 501 High Range; the