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Construction is now underway for the project to build Cambodia's National Road No 5. Costing in the order of US$185 million, the project also includes building two city bypasses. Much of the funding for the project is being supplied in the shape of a loan from the Japanese Government. This 85km route is of key importance to Cambodia as it will provide a link from the capital, Phnom Penh, to the border with neighbouring Thailand. The highway provides a new link that connects Banteay Meanchey Province

Work will commence on the Nairobi-Mombasa expressway in mid-2018. The new highway will help develop Kenya’s economy by providing an improved highway connection between the country’s capital and its premier port. The 473km-long highway connection will be built by Bechtel and has a projected cost of US$3 billion. Bechtel is sourcing the necessary financing and will also have the concession to operate the highway link. Journey times should be halved along the route with the opening of the highway.

A huge highway project is intended to boost connectivity between Russia’s Stavropol Region and Krasnodar Region. The US$3.5 billion project is intended to be carried out under the PPP model and will require private financing. The highway will connect Mineralye Vody with Sochi but further details about the plans have yet to be revealed.

Upgrading work for the I-85 route in South Carolina will be carried out by Lane Construction. The project is worth US$181 million and will see an extra lane being added in either direction to the stretch of the I-85 highway that runs through Cherokee County. This project will provide three lanes in either direction, boosting capacity and cutting congestion at peak periods along the route. In addition to building the extra lanes, the contractor will build a number of new interchanges and sections of link roa

A Chinese firm has won the contract to supply the tunnel boring machine (TBM) for a major road tunnelling project in Bangladesh. The Chinese manufacturer, Tianhe Mechanical Equipment Manufacturing (Tianhe Mechanical), is building the TBM to the specific design requirements of the client. This piece of equipment is the largest TBM built so far in China and tips the scales at 2,200tonnes, while it features a cutter diameter of 12.12m. The TBM will be used to drive a 3.5km-long road tunnel running under the K

A highway project worth US$153.5 million in India’s Tamil Nadu State will be handled by IRB Infrastructure Developers. The same firm will also build a 29km stretch of NH 45A between Viluppuram and Puducherry. A 38km section of NH 45A between Puducherry and Poondiyankuppam meanwhile will be built by Oriental Structural Engineers. These three contracts were all awarded by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Colombia is working on plans to redevelop transport infrastructure in its Caribbean Region. In all nine road projects are underway, which will cost a total of US$2.8 billion. New highways will connect Cartagena with Barranquilla, Carreto with Cruz del Viso and Antioquia with Bolivar. Also being built area route running through Santa Marta Riohacha, Paraguachon and Cordoba-Sucre as well as part of the Ruta del Sol highway.

Financing has been secured for key road reconstruction projects in Cambodia. Work is being carried out on six road projects in the country that measure a total of 600km, as well as a bridge, with this all costing some US$490 million. A loan of $94 million will help pay for the rebuilding of Cambodia’s National Road No 11 as well as a stretch of bypass. In all 96.5km of road will be rebuilt for this project, with the work intended to improve transport connections between Thbong Khmum Province and Prey Veng P

A new timeline has been set for the work to rebuild Russia’s Central Ring Road 4, a project worth US$1.48 billion. The work will now be carried out from the end of 2019 to the end of 2020. The highway is being built by a consortium that comprises the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Avtoban, and the Turkish contractor Makyol.

Online applications will open on April 3rd 2018 for the bauma 2019 technology awards. The awards are intended to highlight cutting-edge technology being developed in the construction machinery industry segment. The closing date for the award entries is September 5th, 2018, with the award ceremony being held at bauma 2019 in Munich. The bauma innovation award is being run for the 12 time already and addresses all bauma exhibitors as well as research institutes, universities, research companies and members

More than 9% of major highway bridges in the US are “rated structurally deficient” and in need of “urgent attention”, according to Bud Wright, chief executive of AASHTO, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Action is needed now. In a recent infrastructure report, AASHTO reported that the US has just over 614,000 road bridges, 25% of which are 50 or more years older. Also, around 56,000 - 9.1% - of them are now structurally deficient. This is a shocking and growing