News

Luxembourg’s Ministry for Infrastructure is calling for more funding for work on the country’s Nordstraße highway in the north of the country.

Austria’s new A5 autobahn is now officially open to traffic and the highway is also the first in the country being built under the PPP model. The first 16km stretch of the highway was opened in November 2009 on schedule with the second 35km section now having been opened as well. The contract was carried out by concession company Bonaventura Strassenerhaltungs, a partnership headed by German company Hochtief and Austrian firm Alpine Bau each with 44.4% stakes while French firm Egis Preojects holds the remai

International Road Dynamics (IRD) has won a contract, valued at around US$1.73 million for the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Mariposa Port of Entry at the US-Mexico border crossing near Nogales, Arizona.

The German manufacturers association, VDMA, has compiled data suggesting that following the slump in construction equipment sales in 2009, the market will recover in 2010. The VDMA reports that in 2009 German construction equipment sales fell in by some 43% to €9.5 billion. Dr Christof Kemmann, VDMA chairman said at a recent board meeting of the organisation, “...2009 has been the most difficult year ever for our industry.”

Austrian motorway operator Asfinag and the Austrian Federal Agency for Technological Measures AustriaTech are planning to test the newly-developed infrastructure-vehicle communication system with 5,000 more vehicles on Austrian motorways. This is part of the European Union (EU) project COOPERS (CO-OPerative SystEms for Intelligent Road Safety), which started in February 2006 with a four-year duration and a total Budget of more than €16.8 million.

Poland’s Ministry of Infrastructure is requesting that the country’s Ministry of Regional Development transfer EU grants worth some €10.66 billion. These funds had been set for use in specific road building projects, but the Ministry of Infrastructure wants to use the funds for other road schemes, preventing the money from being wasted where certain road projects are delayed. Major road projects would then be put on a list of those eligible for the EU funds.

Plans are in hand in Switzerland for a new highway connection between Locarno and the rest of the country’s national highway network. A study by an engineering consultancy has suggested six options, with costs estimated from €530-€798 million, and all will require tunnel construction.

The Bosnian autonomous entity Republika Srpska recently cancelled a highway contract with Austrian construction company Strabag. The problem arose from alleged “irregularities” that saw the contract being awarded directly to Strabag without the work being put out for tender. Because of this, international financial institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have said they will not fund the project.

A new study carried out in the US reveals that teenaged drivers taking other teenagers as passengers have a higher fatality risk. The study used national fatality statistics data and was carried out by the American Automobile Association's Foundation for Traffic Safety. It revealed that teenagers sharing a ride with other teenagers have a higher chance of getting killed in a car crash depending on the number of passengers in the car.

The authorities in Taiwan are giving approval for amendments to the road traffic violation regulations in a bid to crack down on the use of mobile devices by drivers. The new amendment to the law will impose a US$34.00 fine for any car driver or motorcycle rider using a cell phone, mobile device or other electronic device while driving. Motorcyclists and drivers were banned from using mobile handsets when they were driving, under the previous rules. But the amended rules now prohibit the use of handheld PCs

Targets are being set for road investment, construction and repairs in Russia. To meet the country’s infrastructure needs, Russia’s National Association of Builders estimates that some 1,500km of roads must be built/year. Meanwhile the highway authorities in Moscow are aiming to repair around 33% of the city’s road surface every year. Some 23.6 million m2 of road surface will be repaired in Moscow during 2012, compared with 24.7 million m2 in 2011.

ZF has celebrated 50 years of developing and producing driveline technology and axle systems for construction machinery at its location in Passau, Germany. The company is also celebrating two world premieres: ZF cPower, a continuously variable construction machinery transmission, and ZF Ergopower Hybrid.