News

A new report highlights concern over bridge condition on Germany’s road network. Maintenance spending will have to be boosted considerably in the 2012-2016 period for the country’s road (and rail) bridges to be brought back up to the level required. Germany will have to spend some €2.75 billion on maintenance and repair of bridges around the country to ensure that condition is optimal. The survey was carried out by Joachim Naumann for the German industry association BDI and other groups and this revealed ho

Rebuilding work on Moscow’s Warshavsoye Shosse highway is due to commence shortly. The work looks set to be carried out by the ARKS Group, although final details of the contract have yet to be agreed. The work is expected to cost in the order of US$381 million to carry out. Work will include building a section of elevated road, a tunnel, seven pedestrian underpasses, and a two-level interchange. The project is due for completion by 2013.

Unnecessary government bureaucracy will be tackled and costs for local councils reduced following the biggest review into Britain's traffic signing system for 40 years, which was announced by transport minister Norman Baker. The government hopes that the review will dramatically reduce the number of signs councils need to use by relaxing rules, such as by removing the requirement for some signs, including those to indicate the start of a pedestrian zone, to be placed on both sides of the road. The new measu

Qumak-Sekom, the Polish IT integrator, has made the lowest bid (US$39.57 million) in a tender to build an integrated traffic management system for Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot (the so-called TriCity).

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has published its first Quadrennial Technology Review, which identifies six key strategies to address current energy challenges. Crucially the review indicates that among the transport strategies, the greatest effort will be devoted to electrification of light-duty vehicles. While in the fiscal year 2011 only 9% of DOE’s research budget went to electric vehicles, this field will be given greater support in the coming years with the view of reducing US oil dependency in the

Technical investigations have highlighted structural issues with a bridge on a key bridge link on a highway in Quebec, Canada. The bridge on the 20 East highway close to the Pierre-Laporte exit in Lévis requires repair work. The bridge was built in 1965 and will be completely rebuilt so that a third lane can be added to the 20 East highway as far as the Président-Kennedy exit in Lévis. A contract has been awarded to Cima+-Dessau for the work, which is expected to commence in 2013.

In a new project that began last month, Europe is taking a significant step to scientifically underpin the estimation of CO2 emissions. The project, Amitran, will develop a methodology to assess the impact of ICT (information and communication technologies) and ITS on CO2 emissions from the transport sector.

New guidance from the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will pave the way for the increased use of innovative technologies in the country's highway network. This follows a clarification of procurement guidance issued by the FHWA.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has announced that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDoT) and Fluor-Transurban have come to a non-binding, in-principle agreement on the major commercial terms to build the I-95 high occupancy vehicle/high occupancy toll (HOV/HOT) lanes project in Northern Virginia.

TransCore wins White Plains adaptive signal control system contract. The city of White Plains in New York is deploying a new SCATS-based adaptive traffic signal control system from TransCore that will collect real-time information and then adjust signal timing parameters on a cycle-by-cycle basis on one of the city's major arterials.

Last week, the Flemish press witnessed a demonstration in Lommel, Belgium, presenting how Traficon technology can collaborate with so-called smart vehicles. The demonstration was part of the Vision project of Flanders’ Drive, the research centre for the automotive industry, which collaborates with a consortium of companies to research and test vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. In the successful demonstration a Traficon C-Walk pedestrian detector was combined with a smart vehicle, which was equipped w

In Indonesia plans are well in hand for the development of the new Pekanbaru-Dumai toll road project. The 134km road will cost US$896 million to construct and will be carried out under the PPP model. Agreements have been sealed to start work on freeing the land needed for the project. The land compensation process is due for completion by December 2011.

According to a new report from Pike Research, ITS will see increased investment in coming years even as government budgets are tightening, because smart transport is seen as a way to maximise existing transportation systems without making major new capital investments.

The US-based Historical Construction Equipment Association (HCEA) is looking to boost membership worldwide. This non-profit organisation has over 4,300 members across the globe and is the only such body dedicated to preserving the history of the construction, dredging and surface mining equipment industries. The HCEA has already ensured that countless historic construction equipment has been preserved in museums, providing public education on the importance of these machines for the establishment of infrast

In Qatar the Government intends to invest a healthy US$12.36 billion on upgrading and expanding the country's road network. This budget will be for the 2011-2015 period.