News

A day of road safety is planned for Europe this September, with the aim of having zero road fatalities. Called EDWARD, the first European day without road deaths is on Wednesday September 21st. The day is being organised by Pan-European police body TISPOL along with the European Commission and various other road safety bodies. It involves all 28 EC countries, as well as Norway and Switzerland and forms part of a plan to reduce road deaths in Europe. The target has been to halve road deaths in Europe by 2020

A report by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) reveals that a week-long shutdown of New Jersey transportation improvement projects will prove expensive.

The V&A Museum in UK capital London will be the venue for an important lecture by Martin Knight of Knight Architects. The event will be called Beyond the Bridge and will be held on Thursday 14th July, from 18.00–22.00 at the Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre in the V&A Museum.

Tunisia is working on a series of major new highway connections. The new highway connecting Bou Salem with Beja and Oued Zarga should be ready for traffic in the third quarter of 2016. This will provide a highway link all the way from capital Tunis to Bou Salem, as the A3 previously stopped at Oued Zarga. In addition, the new highway connecting Gabès with Medenine in the south of Tunisia will be complete by the end of 2017. Meanwhile the winner of the tender process for the study into the El Kef highway con

Construction work on a 130km section of highway is being carried out at present in Ethiopia. The stretch runs between the towns of Awash and the city of Adama, which lie to the east of capital Addis Ababa. The new section of road being built will form part of the highway from Adama to Dire Dewa. The US$544 million project is being managed by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA). The work is needed to improve the route from Addis Ababa to Dire Dewa, which carries a high percentage of heavy truck traffic and i

No parking on double yellow lines - photo of the month

A heavily-used bridge of historic importance in US capital Washington DC looks set to benefit from much-needed improvement works. The work will be part funded by a US$90 million from the US Department of Transportation. The structure of the Arlington Memorial Bridge has become degraded over time and has been highlighted in a number of reports as being in dire need of a major rebuild. The 651m bridge links Washington District with Arlington County, carrying around 68,000 vehicles/day. But in all the bridge i

Work is now underway in Namibia to upgrade key road links. One project will see improvement works to the B2 coastal road connecting Swakopmund with Walvis Bay. Another project is for the widening and resurfacing of the C28 link, which runs from Swakopmund to Namibia’s capital Windhoek and will be reclassified as Main Road 44 once the improvements are complete. In all the work is expected to cost over US$137 million, with a total of 100km of road due to be improved and upgraded over a three year period.

Bridge engineering specialist Acrow Bridge is publishing a handbook explaining selection of an Acrow bridge. The publication covers the various design characteristics and requirements of ordering and installing an Acrow 700XS Bridge. The firm offers bridges based around a modular steel concept, which can be used for either temporary or permanent use and for lightweight pedestrian/cycle traffic or passenger cars and heavy vehicles. The components are galvanised and have a long design life of at least 75 year

As part of upgrades to the SlabProp range from Pilosio, the SlabProp 2.0 features a new section, resistant and weight optimised The latest addition has a greater range of extraction than the previous model which varies from 145-625cm. It also has greater capacity with values up to 80kN (certified according to EN 16031). Also, connection to truss frames is permitted all along the prop in order to assemble load-bearing towers with high capacity. This prop is made of aluminium type 6005A for a good ca

Cortec's MCI (Migratory Corrosion Inhibitor) coating for rebar is a water-based product that provides corrosion protection in outside storage as well as offering powerful corrosion resistance for embedded rebars. As a soft film, MCI is suitable for long-term indoor protection of up to five years as well as short- to medium-term, from six to 24 months, unsheltered outdoor protection. Cortec’s patented MCI technology rehabilitates existing concrete structures as well as extending the life of new structures.

The former president of Roadtec Inc, Jeffery Lee Richmond Sr, passed away June 30th, 2016. Richmond had worked for Roadtec for 20 years and took over as president of the business in 2004. Although he was born in Illinois in 1955, he had lived in Chattanooga TN, where Roadtec is based, since 1966. Richmond was a major driving force within Roadtec, part of the Astec Group. Under Richmond’s leadership, Roadtec strengthened its international presence significantly, developing sales of its road construction mac

Denver International Airport has awarded CH2M a contract for gate apron rehabilitation and drainage improvements. The three-year project encompasses professional engineering support and technical services for enhancements adjacent to concourses A, B and C. Included are pavement evaluations, replacement of deteriorating apron pavement, mitigation of apron drainage issues and ponding, as well as preventing water infiltration into concourse basements. Utility and infrastructure work includes installation

The Thai government expects to announce contractors for construction of two motorway sections this month after steel price hikes derailed a recent tender process. The sections are part of the 196km motorway connecting Bang Pa-in district in Ayutthaya with Nakhon Ratchasima in the northeast, according to a report in the Bangkok Post. The project, costing nearly US$2 billion, is divided into 40 sections, 25 of which are scheduled to be built this year. But the Highways Department has signed only one con