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The Serbian Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure has set a target for road construction during 2015. In all the country will build some 160km of new roads during 2015. At the moment the country is also building or rebuilding some 150 bridges in a bid to boost its transport connections. Work to the Nis-Dimitrovgrad road is due for completion during 2015. The cost of this ambitious target has not been revealed and nor has the source of the funding stream.

Demolition work has been carried out on the central section of the Chain of Rocks Bridge in the US. The bridge lies just to the north of the city of St Louis, with the eastern end of the structure on Chouteau Island in Illinois and the western end is in Missouri. For the demolition work to be carried out I-270 had to be closed to traffic, so as to ensure the new structure would not suffer damage and also to maximise safety. The other sections of the bridge will be removed in due course.

Australia’s road safety improved in 2014, with a reduction in road-related fatalities. Official data from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics shows that the number of people died on roads in Australia stood at 1,153 people, a drop from the previous year’s figure. This is the lowest annual death toll on Australia’s roads for 69 years, which is of note given the massive rise in vehicle numbers during that time. Vehicle safety has certainly played a role with massively improved p

Norway’s Ministry of Transport and Communications wants to curb the construction of new roundabouts in the Scandinavian country. The ministry reportedly wrote to the Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) in mid December, asking that new main roads have no roundabouts. Also, the ministry wants new roads to be located if possible built outside of large settlements to avoid the need for traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps. But the Public Roads Administration has pushed back, replying t

In Indonesia investment in infrastructure will see the construction of a new bridge and toll roads in Banten Province during 2015. The work is intended to help with the development of the Merak Port, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. The plan includes construction of a 3km toll road and a 600m bridge to connect to the port. Another project planned is for an 84km toll road. The Panimbang-Serang road will become part of the 5,000km nationwide toll road network and will provide a link to t

A €305.7 million loan is being provided to Romania through the European Commission. This will be used to to fund the construction of the Cernavoda-Constanta section of the Sun Highway. The loan will not have to be repaid as it will fall under the Cohesion Fund. The Romania retroactively requested the EU to fund the Highway after contracting with the European Investment Bank in 2005 for a loan to cover construction costs.

The authorities in the Philippines have given preliminary approval for a series of major PPP projects. One of these five key PPP projects is for the expansion of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway. The projects still need the approval of the board of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

The EU plans to support studies on the development of electric vehicle (EV) traffic in Northern Europe. The EU's TEN-T Programme is providing €1 million for a study as well as a pilot on the deployment of EVs and the necessary charging infrastructure along major highways in southern Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany. The project will help boost long distance travel using EVs across borders. One of the major limiting factors to the wider use of EVs on European roads is lack of suitable charging stations.