News

The number of construction machines sold on the Italian market decreased by 36% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period of 2012, according to Unacea, the association for Italian construction equipment attachment manufacturers. In Q1 2013, Unacea says 1,157 machines were sold domestically, of which 1,106 were earthmoving machines, 23 were road machines, and 28 were concrete machine/equipment sales. Moreover, according to the foreign trade monitor of the Construction Equipment Outlook publish

The UK government has announced three options for a new Lower Thames road crossing in south east England.

Work on a new link road will go ahead in Taunton, western England after receiving final approval from Local Transport Minister Norman Baker. The work is needed to improve east-west connections across Taunton and open up access to new development. The overall US$32.07 million (£22.1mn) scheme will see Somerset County Council construct a new road linking Staplegrove Road in the west of the town to Priory Avenue in the east. “This important scheme will help to reduce traffic demand through the town centre and

A number of leading automakers are working on a joint project to develop sophisticated fuel cell vehicles in the US. Hyundai, Mercedes, Nissan and Toyota are collaborating on the project, which includes developing new fuel cell storage systems. However the scope of the project extends beyond developing the propulsion technology and will also cover refuelling stations.

The pan-European police body, TISPOL, is planning a road safety event to be held in the UK later this year. This conference will be run on 1st and 2nd October in the UK city of Manchester. The theme for the 2013 conference is Improving Road Safety - Solutions that Work and the event will be held at the Radisson Blu Hotel at Manchester Airport. TISPOL has been highly effective in improving road safety and also in helping reduce casualty figures across Europe. In TISPOL¹s recent speed enforcement operation, 2

Official data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) reveals that the country’s vehicle fleet continues to increase. The TUIK report shows that by 31st March 2013, some 17.3 million vehicles were registered for use on Turkey’s road network. This figure represents a 7.6% increase over the number of registered vehicles noted as being registered on Turkey’s roads at the end of March 2012. Some 51% of the registered vehicles are passenger cars, 16.5% are pick-up trucks, 15.5% are motorbikes, 8.8% are tra

Work is now underway in Vietnam on a new tunnel and two new highway projects. The US$81 million tunnel project is being carried out under the build-operate-transfer model and lies close to the existing Hai Van tunnel, with completion due in 18 months. Construction work for the upgrade of National Highway 1A is costing some $105 million and should be complete within 24 months. The largest of the three projects however is the 140km Dan Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway, which is costing close to $1.34 billion to con

Transport infrastructure in the Republic of Moldova will benefit from loans worth a total of €300 million. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are providing the loans, which will be used to improve and upgrade existing road links and also to update Moldova’s national railway company, CFM. The road improvements will be targeted at 290km of roads in the north and central areas of Moldova.

Ministers responsible for transport infrastructure from the 54 member countries of the International Transport Forum at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) were meeting today in Leipzig, Germany, for a three-day summit to discuss the future of funding transport. According to OECD figures, air passenger travel is projected to double, air transport to triple and container handling in ports to quadruple by 2030. Investment needs for transport infrastructure to 2030 are estimated a

The ERF has unveiled its strategic research priorities for road safety for Horizon 2020, the European Commission’s next multi-year framework programme for transport research and innovation. The ERF’s research road map identifies six priority areas that it believes can contribute towards reducing fatalities by 50% compared to 2010 levels. More specifically, it urges policy makers to devote research to key areas including adapting infrastructure to meet the challenges of 21st century traffic, developing alter

BMW is planning to introduce its new electric vehicle on the market in South Korea in 2014. This will be the firm’s first fully electric vehicle and will feature a top speed of 150km/h. Called the i3, the prototype of this vehicle will be unveiled shortly. Its range has not been disclosed at this stage but it is thought to feature lithium ion type batteries and sophisticated speed controls and regenerative braking features to extend the distance it can travel.