News

Guatemala is pushing ahead with a plan to develop its road network. The expansion programme will see over US$225 million being spent on improving the country’s road connections during 2017. The work calls for the construction of 1,600km of roads, which will help improve access to many rural areas. Tolled highways will also be completed in Barberena and Chimaltenango. Funding will come partly from the general road authority, Direccion General de Caminos (DCG) and from the cooperation fund Fondo de Solidarida

The opening of a new bridge in Kazakhstan that spans the Irtysh River is now offering a shorter route for drivers. The link is 12.3km long and is now the longest such structure in Central Asia, while the project cost around US$157 million. Its length was necessary as the bridge crosses a floodplain area, with a channel that can widen considerably following periods of heavy rain. Located in the country’s Pavlodar region, the bridge cuts the route used previously by over 40km. The bridge is expected to carry

Work on the US$675.5 million (A$896 million) Torrens to Torrens project in the Australian city of Adelaide is well underway. One of the latest aspects of the project is for the construction of a new bridge link. This will carry vehicles at Torrens Road over South Road and will help improve traffic flow in the area.

Contractor Vinci Construction looks set to handle a major road junction improvement scheme in the UK, although the final permission process has yet to be achieved for the work. The project requires the construction of a new junction on the M20 motorway in Kent, close to Ashford. The new junction 10a will be located around 700m from the existing junction 10a, but will feature significant improvements in its design so as to boost capacity. Congestion is a major problem for the existing junction so the £39 mil

One of the largest US infrastructure projects is nearer completion after recent topping out of the eight main span towers of the New NY Bridge. The final concrete pour was in mid-December and all piles - more than 1,000 - have been installed in Hudson River. To date, 3,000 roadway panels for the approaches - making 5.5km in length - have been installed, according to the New York State Thruway Authority, owner of the New NY Bridge project. The New NY Bridge, also called the Tappan Zee Bridge, is on tra

The UK’s Highways England has awarded four new-style road contracts worth over €360 million for road works in northern England. Two 15-year maintenance and response contracts expected to be worth up to €314 million have been awarded, one to Kier Highways and the other to a joint venture of CH2M and Costain. The Asset Delivery contracts, which will start on 1 April, will see Kier Highways operating in the rugged county of Cumbria. The CH2M-Costain JV operating in the North East will deliver routine h

Guatemala is opening the tender process to improve and widen the CA-2 Occidente highway connection between Cocales and Tecun Uman. The Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV) is handling the tender for the project. Cocales is located in Guatemala’s Suchitepequez region, while Tecun Uman is in San Marcos. The highway capacity upgrade has an estimated cost of US$397.2 million to carry out. However, the project has been the subject of some controversy as the Brazilian contractor Odebrec

Construction work to widen the Autopista Norte highway in Colombia is being handled by the Accenorte consortium. The work involves widening a 4.2km stretch of the highway, which lies to the north of Colombia’s capital Bogota. The project is worth close to US$157 million, with the majority of the funding being delivered by the consortium partners and the remainder from a Colombian Bank. The consortium is led by Mincivil with a 57.43% stake. It also includes Universal with a 16.7% share, Castro Tcherassi with

Poland’s Zachodniopomorskie province has given the go-ahead to the consortium set up by Dragados and Polaqua to start construction of a section of the S6. A deal was done in October 2015 for work on the 24km section of the dual carriageway between Kielpino and Kolobrzeg. The cost is estimated to be nearly €105 million. Meanwhile, a section of the S19 express road - between Slawinek junction and the northern part of the Lublin city ring road – was opened this month. Budimex built the 10km stretch in so

Completion of the R2 in south central Slovakia between the towns of Zvolenska Slatina and Pstrusa will be delayed until May, local media report. The 7.8km project, including seven bridges, is worth €82.3 million and is being carried out by the consortium of construction companies Chemkostav IS and Corsan Corviam Construccion. When finished the R2 will stretch around 305km from east to west.

The authorities in Croatia are pushing ahead with plans for the Peljeski bridge project. The country’s Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure will apply for funding for the project from the EU, although further hurdles have yet to be cleared. Construction of the 2.4km bridge is expected to cost €373.8 million. Bids for construction of the access roads have already been placed. The bridge is intended to connect the Croatian peninsula of Pelješac to the Croatian mainland. The link would run through Cro