News

A stimulus package worth over €2 billion is being planned by the Irish Government. This will be used to fund infrastructure projects in the country, including major roads in Wexford and Galway. The package comprises funds from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) and the sale of State assets as well as from the public-private partnerships (PPPs). The N11/25 Enniscorthy and New Ross bypasses, and the N17/N18 Gort to Tuam scheme are set to gain also from PPP funding. I

Work on the new Trakiya Highway in Bulgaria is on track, with some 70km already open to traffic. When it is complete, the new highway will link Karnobat and Burgas on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. The final section of the Trakiya Highway, Lot 4, is due for completion in February 2013 and opening this stretch will allow the entire route to be used, reducing travel times between capital Sofia and Burgas.

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. Using a banking payment card, drivers can associate the cha

Turkish company Cengiz Insaat has reportedly been awarded the €115 million contract for the construction of the Suhodol-Tarcin motorway in Bosnia. The works, which will be done in cooperation with Bosnian company Euroasfalt, will include two tunnels. One of them will be 400m long, while the other will be 2.5km. Works are expected to be completed by 2014. Meanwhile, bids are now being offered for a major highway project in Bosnia. This follows the opening of the tender process for the project by Bosnian high

Undersecretary of the Hungarian Ministry of National Development (NFM) responsible for infrastructure, Pal Volner, has revealed that renovations on more than 1,200km of roads in Hungary will be completed by the end of 2014. The works, in line with the country's New Szechenyi Plan (USZT), will cost €372.77 million (HUF 104bn).

Portuguese motorway operator Brisa plans to invest €50 million in 2013. The bulk of the money will go on road re-laying and expanding roads in Aguas Santas and Soure (A1). The investment sum represents a decrease compared to previous years, which is attributed to lower prices in the construction sector.

ICUEE-The Demo Expo has launched a new ICUEE Scholarship in partnership with the Association of Equipment Management Professionals (AEMP) through the AEMP Foundation. To help alleviate the critical technician shortage facing the heavy equipment industry in the United States, the Foundation offers scholarships to students attending qualified schools with a two-year diesel technician program. For 2012, the ICUEE (International Construction and Utility Equipment Exposition) Technician Scholarship for US$2,000

Huesker is celebrating victory in this year’s Milton Vargas Award. Now in its second year and honouring the pioneer of soil mechanics in Brazil who died in May 2011, the Milton Vargas Award is an initiative of the Brazilian magazine Fundações and Obras Geotécnicas. It recognises the work of professionals responsible for planning, design and implementation of large construction projects, whose works have already featured prominently in the magazine. Technical director Dr. Dimiter Alexiew (Huesker Germany); r

Portuguese road management company Estradas de Portugal (EP) received government loans totalling €851.3 million between January and September 2012, bringing the firm's total debt to €2.7 billion in the third quarter of 2012. The amount lent to EP was part of a €2.25 billion sum lent to a variety of non-financial state-owned companies in the first nine months of this year. However, the loans equated to less than half the amount granted by the government in loans to non-financial state-owned firms in the same

Each French car using household loses €623 a year due to being stuck in traffic jams, according to a study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). The annual cost of traffic jams in France is said to be €5.55 billion (US$ 7.22 billion). Direct car using household costs linked to traffic jams, such as fuel and lost work hours, are estimated at €3.88 billion a year in France, as opposed to €3.62 billion in the UK, and €5.64 billion in Germany. In Paris, where 40% of all traffic jams in the c

Brazilian infrastructure company Primav (CR Almeida) is set to increase its share in road management firm Ecorodovias. The company will acquire 19% from Italian civil engineering group Impregilo, in a deal valued at US$971.32 million (BRL 2.02bn), bringing its control over the firm from 45% to 65%. The Administrative Council for Economic Defence (Cade) has already green-lit the operation.

The government of Rostov-na-Donu (South) in south east Russia has adopted a resolution on holding a tender for the right to reach a concession agreement on designing, constructing, and maintaining the Northern tunnel, which will join Rostov-on-Don city centre and a residential area in the north of Rostov-na-Donu municipality. The four-lane road will be 2.5km long. The facility capacity will total up to 60,000 cars per day. The project is estimated to cost €212.85 million (RUB 8.50bn), and the works are exp

Polish state-owned Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) has signed a €900 million loan agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB). The money from the loan will be allocated via the National Road Fund (KFD) in the construction of S7 and S8 dual carriageways. The three-section S7 carriageway will be 90.5km long, while the four-section S8 carriageway will stretch over 301km. Both routes will be part of the Trans-European Networks (TEN) system.

The European Commission (EC) has urged authorities in the Hungarian capital Budapest to introduce the congestion charge in the city by 2015 at the latest or face EU legal sanctions, according to some press reports. Should the local authorities fail to take the step, the EC may launch an infringement procedure against Budapest. Thus, the city’s leaders would be obliged to repay EU funds worth €641.6 million (HUF 181bn) provided for building Budapest's Metro 4 underground line. Earlier this year, the Hungaria