News

Rising bitumen prices should be factored in more consistently when awarding highways contract tenders, according to Tarmac National Constructing (TNC). The near 60% bitumen price hike of the last two years, driven by a major decrease in European refinery production, is said by TNC to be making it “extremely difficult” for highways contractors to tender for work, as current price fluctuation mechanisms do not fairly compensate for significant extra input costs. TNC says that while the Highways Agency’s

In Chile the contractor Grupo Costanera currently has deals in hand for some US$650 million. Projects Grupo Costanera is working on include road works in the eastern part of Santiago, the construction of a connection with Route 78 from the union of Costanera Norte with Route 68 that goes to Valparaiso, and the Santiago-Lampa highway. Grupo Costanera is at present 45.8% owned by Atlantia. But Atlantia intends to increase its stake in Grupo Costanera and take a controlling interest by June of this year.

Three flood mitigation projects in Malaysia worth a combined US$171.82million will be carried out in Perlis state. One is part of the under design 16km Western bypass, another is connected to the Timah Tasoh dam upgrading works, with a third part of the widening and deepening of Sungai Arau. All three projects are due to be finished by the end of 2014.

The first tranche of tenders for the US$392 million Rustenburg Rapid Transport (RRT) project in the north west of South Africa has been announced by the local municipal council.The tenders are for the construction of the North-West RRT Corridor, topographical and structural survey services and environmental-impact assessment (EIA) services. The RRT aims to provide transport to half-a-million Rustenburg residents from 2015.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is reported to be in talks with the sponsors of the A-66 Benavente-Zamora highway public private partnership (PPP) in Spain over a possible bond financing deal, which would see the Bank provide subordinated debt for an A-rated bond issue. The possible bond issue would be a further greenfield project to launch the European Union’s Project Bond 2020 initiative, with its initial pilot stage being managed by the EIB.

Manitou Group (MG) president Jean-Christophe Giroux says the Group will look to double its business in the next three to four years after revenue rose by 35% to US$1.13billion in 2011. Speaking on the publication of details of MG’s FY11 performance Giroux, who is also the French construction, industry and agricultural machinery manufacturers chief executive, said: “We want to take advantage of all growth opportunities in a developing yet fragmented market and double our business over the next 3-4 year, t

Clearview Traffic Group has secured a contract for the installation and maintenance of automatic traffic monitoring equipment on behalf of Transport for London (TfL). As part of the contract, the company will install a number of additional automatic traffic counter (ATC) sites, as well as continue to maintain and repair nearly 200 existing ATC sites in and around the city of London to ensure there is a continued supply of acceptable traffic count data. The sites include equipment, ancillary devices and serv

A new 1km long tunnel is being planned to help reduce congestion in Skopje, capital of Macedonia. The tunnel will be built by Turkish contractor Limak. The contractor will also build its own commercial development above the tunnel as part of the agreement. The cost of the tunnel project is not available at this point.

AECOM’s UK transport team has been selected to develop a masterplan for the Romanian national transport system. An assessment of the short, medium and long-term outlook for the country’s transport system will form part of the masterplan. It will also contain sustainability-conscious infrastructure and policy recommendations for all transport modes, including road, rail, air, Constanta Port and navigation of the Danube River.

Renault Trucks’ Tridem 8x4*4 is designed for carrying heavy loads in restricted spaces and is also suitable for mounting mobile cranes or vacuum units. Based on a lightweight Lander 6x4 chassis, the Tridem has an additional 10tonne rated rear steering tag axle giving it a turning circle some 10 to 15% tighter than a traditional 8x4 (depending on the wheelbase). Once back on the road the driver can, depending on the load being carried, raise the rear axle to increase fuel economy.