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A key road project in Panama has been the source of some controversy. The upgrade of Domingo Diaz Avenue in Panama City has been criticised for its poor quality by some of the users of the route. Also known as Tocumen road, the project is for improvement work to 12.1km of road from the centre of Panama City to the East districts. The US$237 million work required involved widening the route to six lanes, as well as building three bridges for vehicle traffic and five pedestrian bridges. A consortium made up o

The Muntinlupa Cavite Expressway in the Philippines is now carrying tolled traffic. The route was open for a month toll free for its initial operations. Ayala Corporation has the concession for the route, while Egis supplied the traffic control equipment and has a subcontract to operate and maintain the technology on the expressway for seven years. The MCX expressway was previously called the Daang Hari – SLEX Link Road. This 4km long toll road links the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) to the Daang Hari road

Indonesia’s Trans Papua road is due to be completed in 2018, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. This 847km road is being constructed in stages and is intended to boost both trade and transport. The project is expected to cost up to US$867.52 million to complete.

The European Bitumen Association, Eurobitume, is carrying out a new membership drive. As part of the package this includes a special promotion and early bird offer for the Eurobitume event. The new membership structure is intended to enable more organisations associated with the bitumen industry in Europe to join its ranks and benefit from Eurobitume’s pool of expertise.

Photo of the month July August 2015. Flying Ferrari finds fleeting freedom from police parking problems

Parsons has been selected by the Canadian province of Ontario to provide environmental assessment planning and preliminary design for the next section of the 407 Transitway. Work will include 23km of bus rapid transit lanes, from west of Hurontario Street to east of Highway 400, as well as 11 transit stations, all around the provincial capital Toronto area. The project is part of the 150km cross-regional rapid transit corridor planned to parallel Highway 407 Express Toll Route freeway, a 107km control

Funding has been secured for a major highway widening and upgrade project in Bangladesh. The route running from capital Dhaka to Sylhet will be widened sufficiently so that it will feature two lanes running in either direction, enabling it to better cope with the traffic volumes it currently handles. The highway widening project will be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The feasibility study for the project has already been carried out. The project will be managed by Bangladesh’s Road Transport an

Chinese funding will help deliver the construction of a major new road project in Senegal. A loan worth US$704.6 million will help finance the construction of Senegal’s new 113km highway connecting Touba and Thiès. The contractor China Road and Bridge Construction (CRBC) will carry out the construction works, which is expected to require 45 months to complete. The loan will be paid back over a 25-year period using toll revenues.

Swiss firm Implenia has won the contract to construct the first section of Stockholm’s new bypass in a deal worth €216.7 million. The Förbifart Stockholm road project was awarded by the Swedish Transport Administration, Trafikverket. Implenia won the package of works following its acquisition of Bilfinger Construction and will commence work during October 2015. The section Implenia will work on is called the FSE 403 stretch and the work includes building a 7.2km long, twin tube tunnel as well as slip roads.

Consultant Mott MacDonald is providing assistance for an important project for the re-gravelling of roads in South Africa’s Western Cape. The firm is helping the Western Cape Government with planning, design and control aspects of the maintenance of gravel roads within the Overberg region, one of four regions in the province. The consultancy is also working with local provincial maintenance teams and supporting the development, improvement and management of materials supply. There are around 10,000km of

Mott MacDonald has won the contract to supervise construction of Poland’s A1 highway. The company supervise work for two sections of the A1 highway, a project being co-financed by the country’s General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways and the European Union (EU). The construction of the A1 highway is due to for completion in early 2019. The project is intended to tackle congestion in the city of Czestochowa. It will diverting traffic from the city centre onto the newly constructed 25km highway.

Kids start to complain about the amount of time in a car after two 2 and 23 minutes of driving, according to research in the UK. Around that time, the driver will hear from the back seat the first of a long list of complaints: “Are we nearly there yet?” And by 2 hours and 37 minutes, angry rows have broken out. These squabbles are almost inevitable, noted the study from the UK’s Highways England. Nearly 80% of families say kids quarrel during long-distance summer trips. Many parents said this ha

In just under four weeks, on Australia’s Gold Coast, the best minds in the global flexible pavement industry will gather for the Australian Asphalt Pavement Association’s 2015 International Flexible Pavements Conference. Experts will be presenting the most up-to-date technical information as well as real life examples of applied technology to projects, whether they be roads, tunnels, ports or airports. “This is a must-attend event for all in road construction and maintenance,” said Michael Caltabiano,