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Slovakia is having major success in cutting road deaths. A report from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) reveals that Slovakia has made the most progress in saving lives since an EU target to halve road deaths by 2020 was set four years ago. Official data shows that 26,025 people died as a result of road crashes in the EU in 2013, while 199,000 were seriously injured. There is concern that the numbers seriously injured in road crashes are not falling at same rate as deaths and there has now been

The Latvian road builders association, Latvijas Celu Buvetajs (LCB), has warned that the country’s roads require extensive maintenance and repairs. According to the LCB, the state of the country’s roads and bridges continues to decline, with some 62% of state roads and 148 bridges in poor condition. Of the bridges requiring maintenance and repairs, 28 connect main state roads according to the LCB. Meanwhile the LCB’s warnings over the poor condition of the country’s road and bridge links have been echoed by

A Chinese demolition contractor carried out an effective and efficient demolition job. The firm brought both a defunct bridge and the tower block next to it down simultaneously using explosives. Residents living nearby were evacuated from their properties for safety but the explosive demolition went according to plan and both the bridge and tower block were brought crashing to the ground in the planned zones but without any injuries.

Contractor Mota-Engil is heading the consortium that has been awarded the Cardel-Poza Rica highway concession in Mexico. The package was awarded by Mexico's transport and communications ministry (SCT), reports Business News Americas. The Mota-Engil bid included work costs of US$269 million. The 30-year concession covers construction and operation of a 129km stretch of highway between Laguna Verde and Gutiérrez Zamora, improving connections in the coastal region of Veracruz state as well as connections to V

Official data from Australia shows a drop in road fatalities from 2004-2013. The report comes from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics and reveals a 25% drop in all types of road fatalities in Australia. However, taking the growth in population into account shows an even greater gain in safety. Some key issues were highlighted by the Road Deaths Australia Summary report, which showed that drivers aged 65 and over accounted for 23% of road fatalities. Motorcycle riders also account

IronPlanet, the leading online marketplace for buying and selling used heavy equipment, has launched allEquip.com, an online, ‘buy now’ marketplace of used construction equipment for sale at competitive prices. Greg Owens, CEO of IronPlanet, said, “With a wide selection of equipment, buyers can purchase equipment online today and every day at competitive prices with confidence knowing the equipment was inspected and guaranteed. We are committed to making the buying and selling of equipment faster and easie

The Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure, Urve Palu, is keen for the heavily used Tallinn-Tartu motorway section between Tallinn and Paide to be reconstructed into a four-lane stretch by 2020. The project is expected to cost €200 million of which €70 million could come from EU funds. Palu said the improved Tallinn-Paide motorway route would make an important contribution to the development of the regional economy.

The Russian Ministry of Transport is considering the construction of a new six kilometre toll road that will connect the M4 Don highway to the existing road to Domodedovo (A105). The Transport Ministry says that Domodedovo’s civic leaders support the project. Construction of the new toll road will cost an estimated €214.11 million (RUB 10 billion).

China's Inner Mongolia region plans to invest US$10.42 billion (CNY 65 billion) in road construction in 2014. The road projects will span over a combined 15,000km, with highways accounting for 1,990km of that. The seven cities in the west of the region plan to complete a road investment of $6.7 billion (CNY 41 billion), covering a total length of 7,000km. Meanwhile, the earmarked two-year construction of the Beijing section of the Beijing-Taipei Expressway is expected to start within 2014. The 120km/h limi

Balfour Beatty has been appointed by the Midlands Highways Alliance, a collection of twenty UK local authorities, to the Midlands Highways Alliance Medium Schemes Framework Two (MSF2) which will deliver up to €322.87 million (£261 million) of transport infrastructure over the next three years. Under the framework, the company will deliver the construction of new transport infrastructure schemes such as bridges, roads and public transport schemes such as park and rides, bus stops and bus lanes. Balfour Bea

Hexagon, a leading global provider of design, measurement and visualisation technologies to a wide number of industries, including road construction and mining, has acquired the remaining 90% of shares in North West Geomatics, making the company a fully owned Hexagon subsidiary. North West Geomatics, also known as North West Group (North West), provides high-quality aerial mapping and related spatial data services to engineering and mapping firms, environmental consulting organisations and government agen

Investment in advanced machine electronics capability; further investment in training and apprenticeship programs; and support for the UK as a continued centre for R&D are all key to securing growth within the British construction equipment industry, according to a comprehensive new Construction Equipment Association (CEA) commissioned report. Further recommendations for the industry in The UK Construction Equipment Sector Report are the need to ensure the cross fertilisation of advanced design, manufactu

Plans for a new crossing for the Kerch Strait are now moving forward. The Russian roads company Avtodor is in charge of the project, which calls for the building of both road and rail connections. As series of options are being considered and in all the work is expected to cost in the region of US$8.2-$10.9 billion. There are eight options being investigated at present, with five looking at bridges to carry both road and rail and a further three for combined connections with bridges for the roads and tunnel