News

A new highway project is planned for Cambodia that will improve transport connections to and from its capital, Phnom Penh and the coastal area, Preah Sihanouk. Construction is scheduled to commence in November 2018, with the 190km route expected to cost in the order of US$1.8 billion. The Cambodian Government is managing the project itself, through the Ministry of Public Works. Once the highway is complete it will provide an improved transport link between Phnom Penh and the port of Sihanoukville.

French construction machine manufacturer Mecalac is expanding its operations with a key acquisition. The Mecalac Group is adding to its range of products by taking over production of a range of compact wheeled loaders, currently being manufactured by the French company Pichon. The deal will be finalised on January 1st, 2019. The Pichon firm specialises in the design and manufacture of agricultural equipment and is based at Landivisiau in Brittany (France). Following the deal, Pichon will cease production of

A series of new road projects have been awarded in Saudi Arabia, with the work being spread broadly across the country’s main urban areas. In all 23 new road projects are now going ahead, with a total value of US$461.3 million. The country's Transport Ministry has awarded 75 road projects in all under its road improvement plans. Of the 23 road contracts awarded most recently, seven will be for roads located in Makkah and six for roads in Riyadh. A further four contracts will be for roads in Assir, while two

Slovakia’s transport minister said he will do everything possible to finish on time a new bridge connecting Komano with the Hungarian town of Komarom. Construction started last year on the €117 million bridge over the Danube River between the Hungarian town of Komarom and the Slovak town of Komarno. Around 85% of the cost of the bridge - designed by Hungarian engineering firm Pont-Terv - will be covered by European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. Completion is planned for winter 2019. Transport m

A pan-European research project is investigating the use of electro-fragmentation to help recycle fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC). Increasingly used in civil applications such as tunnels and bridge decks, FRC can be challenging to recycle because of the difficulty in separating the tiny fibres from the concrete material. “Most of the research into FRC is about the formulation or the application of the material,” said Kathy Bru, a process engineer at research organisation BRGM. “We are looking ahead 20 or 3

The project to build Zimbabwe’s crucial north-south highway link is facing delays, with the contract now having to be re-awarded. The tender was originally awarded to an Austrian firm, Geiger International, but with progress having proven very slow this has been withdrawn. The deal has not yet been re-awarded. But the Zimbabwe Government is at present in discussions with the second bidder from the original tender process, Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Group Limited (AFECC), over the contract. The hig

Chile’s Ministry of Public Works (MOP) has revealed an ambitious plan for bridge projects. The MOP has set a budget of US$1.48 billion to be used for a range of bridge projects for the 2018-2023 time period. In all 229 bridges are included in the programme of works, with structures due for maintenance and upgrade work.

A funding package has been secured for a key highway project in Kenya. The Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) is providing close to US$615 million for the project. The new highway will connect Lamu on Kenya’s coast, with Isiolu. The highway project is intended to become part of Kenya’ second key transport corridor, with the country’s other transport corridor connecting Mombasa and Nairobi with the Ugandan border. The Lamu to Isiolu road will measures 520km long and will be a key portion of the Lamu Por

Plans are being made for a new link to connect Malaysia’s Penang Island with the Malaysian mainland. The Consortium Zenith Construction (CZC) won the tender process for the US$1.56 billion Penang Roads and Tunnels project, an integrated infrastructure plan that includes the new undersea tunnel. There are suggestions that a bridge would be a feasible alternative, although the tunnel link looks most likely for the project. The feasibility study for the tunnel should be complete in September 2018. Should the