News

The Tunisian Government is setting out plans for a new ring road to be constructed in the Greater Tunis area. This 80km ring road project is expected to cost in the region of US$365 million to construct. The project forms part of a series of works in the country intended to improve connectivity. Tunisia is being connected to the new North African highway, which will run some 5,600km in total from Morocco to Egypt when it is complete. However Tunisia, like many North African nations, does have a comparativel

A new report by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) in the US reveals that injury severity has increased in the US state of Michigan following a change to helmet laws. The study is based on data taken from insurance claims and shows that these costs have increased substantially since the helmet law was changed in Michigan back in 2012. Previous to the law change motorcyclists in Michigan were required to wear helmets whilst riding, which had been in place for over 40 years. The law was changed and only m

Austrian transport club VCÖ has called for the number of kilometres travelled in private vehicles to be reduced by 55% by 2050 to cut time lost by goods transporters in traffic jams - said by VCÖ to be costing the Austrian economy US$5.23 billion (€4 billion) a year. According to VCÖ spokesperson Christian Gratzer, non-passenger transporters must be able to complete their journeys on time in order to improve competitiveness. Gratzer said the 55% reduction in private vehicle journey distance was particular

A British student hopes his new hologram road signs which ‘pulse’ at drivers will lead to a revolution in the way motorists are given information on the roads. Nottingham Trent University (NTU) undergraduate Charles Gale has already obtained a patent for his design and is set to meet with transport officials to discuss how it could be used across the UK.

The Nigerian government has completed a project costing US$796.71 million (NGN 126bn) to restore 32 roads covering a combined 2,000kms. The federal government will also upgrade nine railway stations across the country on public private partnerships (PPPs). Mike Onolememen, the Minister of Works in Nigeria, is reported by African media to have told the recent 2013 Ministerial Platform in Abuja, Nigeria that the extensive improvements meant that the country’s roads can no longer be described as “death traps”.

Russia is one of the “growth engines” for the European construction equipment industry, says Ralf Wezel, secretary general of CECE, the European Construction Equipment Association. According to the CECE, one out of three tower cranes produced and sold in Europe are currently going to Russia. The Association says that Russian governmental and private projects in the oil and gas industry and in the infrastructure and housing sectors are stimulating demand, with building hoists, truck mixers, concrete batching

Vietnam will partner Thailand in improving the 900km Southern Economic Corridor, known as the R10 route, linking Dawei in Myanmar to southern Vietnam. By 2015, Vietnam intends to finish expanding and renovating the R10 route to support social, tourism and cultural exchanges among Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. The route, which will be funded by loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank and the Thai government, will facilitate transportation of goods across the region.

Indonesia’s proposed US$914.8 million (IDR 8.97tn) 177km Solo-Mantingan-Kertosono toll road is to be developed under the public private partnership (PPP) scheme with Theis Contractors Indonesia, according to Rido Matari Ichwan, head of planning and public works at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project will be receiving loans from China amounting to $300 million. Construction is expected to start by end of 2013.

Central Nippon Expressway Co (NEXCO) East Japan is to remove ceiling tiles in nine of its expressway tunnels in Japan, less than a year after nine people died following the collapse of Sasago tunnel in Yamanashi Prefecture. A company spokesperson has reportedly said that the firm is shutting down the tunnels on the Kan-Etsu Expressway and the Hokuriku Expressway during evenings until July 2013, to enable the removal of the existing tiles. After the Sasago tunnel collapse in December 2012, an emergency inspe

Russia’s Transport Ministry is planning a massive investment into infrastructure running until 2020. The plans call for close to US$388 billion to be invested into transport infrastructure. This investment will come from a mixture of state and private sources, with the PPP model preferred for much of the transport programme. Some $5 billion will come from private sources only.

Construction work is underway for the Illinois Tollway project. The Elgin O'Hare Western Access (EOWA) project has been given its final approval by the authorities in Illinois, following earlier approval at the Federal level. The Illinois Tollway is costing some US$3.4 billion to construct. The plan involves providing improved connections between I-90 and I-294, which lie to the west of O’Hare, which is one of the world’s busiest airports. The project also includes the construction of a new 18km section of