News

South Korean contractor Hyundai Engineering currently looks set to win a US$1 billion package of works for the Lusail Expressway project in Qatar. This deal will be for the first section of the highway and at present, seven international contractors are bidding for the project. The project is being handled by Qatari public works authority Ashghal. It has been reported that the deal will be finalised at the close of June 2012.

FCC Construccion Costa Rica has started expansion works on the Canas - Liberia stretch of the country’s Interamericana Norte motorway. The work includes increasing the number of lanes on the road to four and the creation of a bicycle lane. The US$96million project is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (BID).

Chile public authorities have presented an amended version of the Chacao bridge project, that will link Chiloe island with the mainland. Works for the 2.6km bridge will be assigned through a public competition and will cost up to US$ 740million, over US$ 200million less that the initial project presented by Puente Chiloe. The tender will be launched by the end of 2012 and should be assigned in 2013. The project is due for completion by 2019.

India’s horrific death toll on its roads presents a major threat to the country’s fast economic development. Estimates from the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) suggest that some 130,000 people die on the roads/year, at an average of around 14 deaths/hour. Under-reporting of accidents is thought to be endemic and the figures available exclude the 1.6 million serious injuries that have been estimated by the IRTE. Close to 146 million traffic violations/day occur in the country according to the IRTE

A report by the Spanish Association of Turnpikes, Tunnels, Bridges and Other Toll Road Concessionaire Companies (Aseta) claims the installation of toll booths on motorways would yield the Spanish government a minimum of US$ 10.25billion annually. Those whom the vehicle is a work tool or who do not have an alternative transport method would qualify for a discount. The government is also considering not charging drivers who motorways at night. Furthermore, drivers of trucks weighing more than 3.5tonnes are ad

Work on six major road construction contracts will commence in Oman shortly with projects worth a total of US$344.2 million. The deals were signed by the country's Transport and Communications Ministry. Desert Line Company will build the second phase of the ongoing Nizwa-Ibri dual carriageway project and also has a deal for the design and construction of a road linking Maskan and Muqniyat in the Wilayat of Ibri. Khalid bin Ahmed & Sons is to build the Wadi Mistil road in the Al Batinah region, while a partn

Professional drivers run a high risk of back injury and hearing impairment due to bad road quality, a report by Swedish consulting firm Vectura has shown. Vectura has measured vibration on roads in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Scotland as part of the EU project Roadex, and found that many professional drivers were exposed to an unacceptably high level of vibration caused by uneven road surfaces. Bad road quality also increased the risk of slipping accidents, the report showed.

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport of Cambodia (MPWTC) said it expected the completion of a US$27million upgrade of Road No9, linking the districts of Phin and Outhoumphone, by March 2015. The forecast comes after the MPWTC awarded a civil work contract to a Japan-based joint venture between Obayashi and Obayashi Road. The ministry will utilise a grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to finance the project.

Simplex Infrastructures, the Indian construction firm, has emerged as the low bidder for the third phase deal for Oman's Batinah Expressway. The firm submitted a US$ 301.12million (OMR 301.12million) bid for the work. Some 16 firms are bidding for the deal, which involves building 34km of the 265km road. The second lowest bid of US$322million (OMR 124.4million) was submitted by both Turkey's Makyol Gulf and Oman Roads Engineering. The fourth and fifth packages for the Batinah Expressway project have also be

Discussions are now underway on a new highway to connect Turkey with Romania. A major stretch of this new highway will run through Bulgaria, which will provide a much-needed link in the country as it has insufficient express road infrastructure at present. The Bulgarian section of the highway would run from Ruse to Svilengrad. The political leaders of Bulgaria and Turkey, as well as Qatar, have been in discussions over the proposed project

All three of Moscow’s main airports are to benefit from major upgrades to their road connections. The authorities in the Russian capital have plans to repair and improve eight key connecting roads to Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Sheremetyevo airports and with a target date for completion in 2015. The first section of the new Moscow - St Petersburg tolled highway forms part of the new route into Sheremetyevo airport and this is due for completion during 2014. In all some US$5.6 billion will be spent on repairing