News

Lithuania’s road safety record is improving, albeit slowly. Data from the police force reveals that there were 3,325 traffic crashes in the country in 2014. The number of deaths from crashes actually rose to 265, an increase of 3.5% from 2013. However the number of people killed in traffic stood at 61/million residents in 2014, down from 87/million in 2013. Pedestrians accounted for 40.8% of road deaths, while cyclists accounted for 7.2% of road deaths. Improvement was seen in the numbers injured in road cr

Canadian firm Ritchie Bros is planning a major auction for construction machines at its site in St Aubin sur Gaillon, France, on March 3rd 2015. The unreserved public auction will feature a large selection of heavy equipment items from several equipment owners, including major French contractor Eiffage Travaux Publics. The auction firm will sell all of the items without minimum bids or reserve prices. Bids can be made in the auction live in person, online and by proxy.

A consortium led by Portuguese contractor Britalar has been sacked from a controversial contract to rehabilitate a prestigious thoroughfare in the Mozambique capital Maputo. The council is seeking repayment of US$1 million from the consortium that includes two other Portuguese companies, Construção Europa Ar-Lindo and Aurélio Martins Sobreiro e Filhos. Media reports also say a Chinese firm has been handed the contract to finish the work that was started in February 2013 under a deal worth $12.5 millio

The fourth edition of the Global Road Safety Film Festival is being held in Morocco’s largest city Casablanca on 13th and 14th February, 2015. This event is organised jointly by Laser International Foundation (LIFE) in partnership with the Prevention Routiere Internationale (PRI) and the National Committee for Prevention of Traffic Accidents (CNPAC) of the Kingdom of Morocco. The aim of the event is for film makers to make short videos detailing aspects of road safety. The website provides links to clips fr

The Polish national roads authority GDDKiA has said that it will no longer look for the cheapest offer in road-building tenders. Instead, it will, in line with European Union requirements, consider whole life cycle factors such as durability, cost of exploitation and quality. Poland has long been criticised by the road construction industry, both within the country and in the rest of Europe, for handing out tender wins to the lowest bidder with scant regard for life-cycle costs. The government has also b

Work is now commencing in the US state of Maine for the new Sarah Mildred Long Bridge. The bridge will connect Maine and New Hampshire, spanning the Piscataqua River. The project is expected to cost around US$170 million, with $25 million coming from the US Department of Transport’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant programme. The existing bridge is 65 years old and is no longer suitable for the 14,000 vehicles/day it has to carry. The project is expected to be completed i

Construction work is on track with the new cable-stayed bridge close to Morocco’s coastal city of Rabat. The cable-stayed bridge will form part of Rabat’s new bypass and will be the largest such structure in Africa when it is complete, later this year. The bypass crosses the Bouregreg valley and measures some 41km. The bridge itself will measure 950m and span 376m, with three lanes in each direction. Construction of the bridge has been financed by the World Bank and Autoroutes du Maroc (ADM) and is costing

The road maintenance crisis in the United Kingdom and the United States is deepening amid estimates that it will take millions of dollars to stop highway infrastructure from crumbling, including falling prey to potholes. A recent report by the BBC in the UK said that at least one municipal council, the city of Leeds, is facing a bill of nearly US$153 million to patch up its potholed roads. In the United States, Senator Bernie Sanders is t

In China Chongqing municipality has announced plans to invest close to US$12 billion (74.5 billion RMB) in transportation developments in 2015. Chongqing plans to spend $5.97 billion (37.1 billion RMB) in road construction, including 5,000km of rural roads while three new highways are due for completion in 2015. Other transport investments including spending boosting the rail network in the city by 155km and developing civil aviation.