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If you’re going to have an accident, why not make a real day of it and have several? That’s exactly what one motorcycle driver – a possible Evel Knievel in training - did in the Philippines capital Manila. If you watch closely, the driver had a passenger when he ran into the first vehicle, a white minivan. Wisely, the passenger did not get back on after both he and the motorcycle driver were tossed off. Instead, the passenger casually wanders around, following the driver as he embarks on yet more prangs.

A major US manufacturer of equipment for building and restoring roads is spearheading a national campaign to have the Federal Government increase funding for America’s much needed highway repairs. Ben Brock, chief executive of Astec Industries, based in Tennessee, is urging people in the transportation and related industries to send a message to their Congressman through the Don’t Let America Dead End website. Astec’s Don't Let America Dead End also includes a national trade ad campaign, direct outrea

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Tendering is opening for a new toll road project in the Philippines. The 8km toll road link will link the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx). The is handling the tendering process. Manila North Tollways Corp (MNTC) has offered close to US$401 million for the project but the Philippines Government is keen to open up the tender to other companies. MNTC is the toll road division of Metro Pacific Investments and currently operated the NLEx route.

The Algerian government is now talking directly to the Japanese government in an effort to resolve a dispute with sacked Japanese highways consortium Cojaal, In 2006, Cojaal won a US$5 billion deal to build the 359km eastern section of Algeria’s proposed 900km East-West Highway within 40 months. Algeria divided the contract into three sections, with the Chinese company Citic-CRCC winning the central and western sections, which in total was to cost around $6 billion.

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.

Software specialist Bentley Systems continues to develop its engineering software portfolio, this time with the acquisition of the UK-based firm C3global. This move brings Bentley the web-based Amulet software for operational analytics. From a product portfolio perspective, it complements Bentley’s AssetWise platform, which serves configuration management, asset health monitoring, inspection, maintenance, and compliance for infrastructure assets. The move means AssetWise will deliver additional actionable i

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

Indonesian state-owned construction firm Waskita Karya will seek a bank loan of US$338 million for its work on the Pejagan-Pemalang toll project in central Java island. The project is being managed by Pejagan Pemalang Toll Road, a subsidiary of Waskita Karya. Waskita company secretary Antonius Yulianto Nugroho said the firm has enough cash resources to cover a quarter of its financial commitment on the project and is targeting bank loans to cover the other 75%. Waskita Karya plans to carry out a bond