News

Oman’s roads have shown a gain in safety during the first four months of 2016. Crashes dropped 32% for the first four months of this year, compared with the same period during 2015. However road deaths during the first four months of 2016 increased by 1.4% to 210. In all there were 1,413 crashes in the first four months of 2016, while injuries were reduced by 22.8% to 903.

Paul Lyons, CEA’s () Market Information Manager takes a look at the trends of UK Exports and Imports of Construction and Earthmoving equipment* in the first quarter of 2016. According to the UK’s Construction Equipment Association (CEA) exports of construction and earthmoving equipment have been on a declining trend since 2013. The CE explains that this reflects weak demand in many of the major overseas markets. However, export levels in recent quarters are continuing to show signs of stabilising. Export

Police in a small German town were stumped when their speed trap camera went off clocking a vehicle doing 30kph in a 20kph zone. The photo, taken on a clear day at 10am, showed no object, according to German media reports. But on closer examination, police in the town of Zweibrücken, in the south west, spotted a tiny airborne object – a green ring-necked parakeet – in mid-flight. “After close visual inspection of the photo taken at the scene we solved the puzzle,” the Rhineland Palatinate police sa

Funding for a key project in Belarus could be supplied by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Financing is required for the reconstruction of the M10 highway in Belarus, which runs from Kobrin through Gomel to the Russian border. The EBRD will consider options once the results of the tender have been revealed. The private sector looks likely to take part in the project, which is conceived as a PPP scheme, the first for Belarus. The project will be handled under the concession mode

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is suggesting that new highways could also be designed as backup runways for its air defence fleet. The first highway to be constructed so that it could also be used as a runway is likely to be the 302km Lucknow-Agra Expressway. This route will be operational by the end of 2016. The IAF has been working on plans to build emergency runways and has been developing solutions for mobile logistics support. It has also been researching suitable road sections and the minimum infrastr

Vietnam is working on plans to develop a new highway in Ha Tinh. The proposal has been put forward by the Project Management Board Unit 85. The new highway would connect Vung Ang and Ham Nghi in Ha Tinh. A request has been lodged by the Project Management Board Unit 85 for funds worth US$232.56 million from build-operate-transfer investors and $94 million from State budget funds. Under the project, three additional bridges and 13 core bridges would be constructed. The project requires $299.64 million in

Construction consultants McBains Cooper has won a contract to help improve public-private partnership skill for the Colombian city of Medellin. McBains will train Medellin PPP Agency to help implement PPP procured projects in the city, Colombia’s second largest. Apart from road works that will include a new urban highway, projects will be across the transportation sector as well as in education such as school construction. Santiago Klein, international director at McBains Cooper, said the objective of

The Nepalese Government is planning a major programme of road development for the next three years. The aim of the programme is to build new roads that will join up to 500 Village Development Committee (VDC) locations that are not linked at present to the road network. According to the guidelines of the Ministry of Local Development, the Department of Local Infrastructure Development (DoLIDAR) has set a target to connect every VDC in Nepal with motorable roads. This is no small challenge however as Nepal is