News

Major developments are in hand with regard to providing charging solutions for electric vehicles. This has been seen as a barrier to the introduction of electric vehicles on a widespread basis but various manufacturers are now developing systems to deal with the issue.Siemens and BMW are working on an easy-to-use fast charging plug for electric cars. This system will allow sufficient charging for a 100km range in less than 30 minutes.

Forward bookings for the upcoming Intermat construction equipment exhibition in French capital Paris are extremely bullish. The organisers say that the show already has a 90% occupancy rate for its exhibition space, a full eight months before the 2012 event, which runs from 16h April to 21st April. The Intermat 2012 event will feature 375,000m2 of exhibition area, including a 20,000m2 outdoor demonstration area. In all 1,500 exhibitors have booked, 67% of whom are international and there will be four nation

Bidding is underway on the project to uprgade Montreal’s Turcot interchange, a project expected to be worth some US$3.02 billion (C$3 billion). Canadian construction contractor SNC-Lavalin has selected Louisbourg SBC as part of the Groupe Futur Turcot consortium that is bidding for the project. Infrastructure Quebec has released the names of all five bidders for the Turcot project. The interchange carries some 300,000 vehicles/day and is one of the busiest in the country.

West Bengal is to receive a US$748.08million grant from the Indian Government for two major road projects. Announcing the key grant, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said one project would see the building of a new 4,000km road, while the other will see the conversion of 5,733km of existing murram-surfaced highway to asphalt surfaced highway.

Automotive manufacturer Ford is developing an electric bike prototype called the E-Bike. The firm is working on the concept as it believes that E-bikes may well sell in higher numbers than electric cars over the next decade. The frame is built from carbon fibre and aluminium, while sophisticated magnetostrictive sensors regulate precisely how the electric motor in the front wheel-hub, engages and assists the rider.

Illegal motorway car racers in Thailand are to be targeted with additional radio frequency identification (RFID) systems and surveillance cameras. The move comes after Thai authorities have been tackling high-speed motorcycle racing involving youth gangs, mainly from low-income households. Meanwhile, a new seatbelt law for children is set to be introduced in a bid to reduce the country’s number of child accident deaths. It will make it compulsory for children aged below 15 to use a seatbelt when a passenger

Greek general construction companies Terna and AEGEK Kataskevastiki have signed a deal to develop part of the Egnatia Odos highway.The budget for the works is reported to be US$ 113.90million, plus VAT of $26,111,500. The second part of the two-part highway development project is budgeted at $23,046,800, plus VAT of $5,300,750

The Ecuadorian Ministry for Transport and Public Works is to spend around US$ 5billion turning the country’s 1,286km of roads into ‘super-highways’. The staggered investment over the next two years is set to boost Ecuador’s tourism, farming and agricultural industries. A first stage will see the firm Consultora de Ingenieria, Estudios y Perforaciones de Suelos (Cieper) undertaking definitive traffic studies, as well as engineering and environmental impact studies for the Santo Domingo-Quevedo road, located

The CEA (Construction Equipment Association) is to highlight the importance of the construction sector to the UK economy in an Industry Showcase at the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) HQ in London. The showcase from 14-25 May, 2012, will also promote the forthcoming PLANTWORX construction machinery exhibition. Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, Mark Prisk MP, will be attending the showcase on Wednesday May 16th from 11am – 12noon to talk to participating companies. The Constr

The Chinese province of Qinghai will this year see US$237.83million spent on 300 new bridges and 2,000km of new rural roads in farm and pastoral areas. In 2011, a total of $289.49million was spent on creating 306 new bridges and 1,767km of rural roads in Qinghai. The sum also paid for the upgrade of 5,901km of rural roads.

Bulgarian Regional Development Minister, Lilyana Pavlova, has revealed plans to create a Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo-Svilengrad-Istanbul toll road under a public-private partnership (PPP) programme. Investors from Oman, Qatar and China are expected to take part in the PPP, said Pavlova. The 300km route would enable a faster connection between the Danube Bridge and the Bosphorus through the pan-European transport corridor 9.

Roads Minister Mike Penning yesterday gave the green light for development work to be carried out on six new major UK road schemes. The development work, which will take place over the next three years, aims to prime the road schemes for completion in the early years of the next spending review period (post 2015). The six proposed road schemes, which aim to boost economic growth as part of the Government’s National Infrastructure Plan, are: