News

A consortium of Colombian construction companies, Concesionaria Desarrollo Vial al Mar (Devimar), is to build the new in Autopista al Mar 1 highway. This 176km link is expected to cost US$790.5 million to build, connecting Medellin with Santa Fe de Antioquia. The new highway will cut journey times on the route by 20-30 minutes, boosting transport for the region. The project is complex and involves the construction of no less than 39 bridges, of which 26 will be situated between the 4.6km Tunel de

The East-West highway connection project in Auckland is proving controversial. Several community groups are lodging appeals against the US$1.37 billion (NZ$1.85 billion) project, despite it having been approved recently by the New Zealand: Government. The groups appealing against the highway link project now include Jackson Electrical, Mercury Energy, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, iwi Ngati Whatua and The Onehunga Enhancement Society (TOES).

Laos is seeking funding assistance from sources in Thailand to help pay for a 1.35km bridge project spanning the Mekong River to connect the two countries.

Colombia's future 4G road programme now includes a new project, to provide a new link from Popayan to Santander de Quilichao. The three month consultation process has been completed and the steps needed for an environmental license to be awarded are now underway. Should all continue to go to plan, construction of the 77km link should commence in August 2018, although a target for the completion date has yet to be announced.

There have been calls for mandatory alcohol interlocks in vans, lorries and buses across the EU. This follows the publishing of a new report which shows that more than 5000 deaths/year in the EU are still caused by drink-driving. As a result, member States have been asked to increase enforcement and introduce rehabilitation programmes for drink-driving offenders. The devices should be fitted in all new professional vehicles and also retrofitted to cars used by repeat drink-driving offenders, according to

Road construction work is planned for Russia’s Kaliningrad region. A budget of US$130 million has been set, with the funding being supplied by Russia’s Federal Government. The prime beneficiary of this funding will be the project to construct the second phase of the ring road around the Primorsky area.

The US is making only slow progress with regard to road safety. During 2017 there were 40,100 road deaths, according to the National Safety Council. This is the second year that deaths from motor vehicle crashes have topped 40,000. There has been a slight improvement for 2017 from 2016 with road deaths dropping 1%. However 2016 was a poor year for road safety, with a 6% gain in road deaths over 2015. This means that the figures for 2017 represent a 6% increase in road deaths from two years before in 2015.

Work is now complete for the second phase of the Mountain View Corridor project in the US state of Utah. The 4km greenfield roadway runs from 5400 South to 4100 South in West Valley City. The project was designed and built jointly by Michael Baker International, Ralph L Wadsworth and Staker Parsons. Phase two of the Mountain View Corridor project included 14 mainline bridges, as well as seven pedestrian bridges and intersection reconstruction, and vital safety improvements to accommodate growth in Salt Lake

A new bridge is being built to connect Serny Island in St Petersburg. The bridge will feature three lanes of traffic in either direction, as well as pedestrian and cycling facilities. The bridge pylons have been constructed and the cable stays are being installed. The work is costing US$150.4 million.

A proposal has been put forward for wither a tunnel or bridge link crossing for the Long Island Sound. The crossing would cut journey times between Westchester County and Nassau County and Suffolk County by 30 minutes to just 60 minutes. However the estimated cost of the work could make it one of the most costly infrastructure projects for the US. Funding sources are being sought at present.

Topcon Corporation has acquired all the outstanding shares of ClearEdge3D for an undisclosed sum. This deal adds a technology leader in the engineering and construction software industry to Topcon’s portfolio. ClearEdge3D’s EdgeWise software is intended to speed as-built modeling workflows by utilising automated feature extraction algorithms and other patented technologies. Its Verity construction verification software compares laser scan point cloud data of recently completed construction work against

Polish contractor Budimex has won a tender to build a 20km-long section of the S61 dual carriageway in Poland. The section runs from the Wysokie junction to Raczki, the national highways authority GDDKiA announced. Budimex bid just over €484 million for the 29-month design-build contract. Last summer, the Italian contractor Impressa Pizzarotti picked up a deal for 24km of the S61 from Suwalki to the border with Lithuania for around €144.6 million, according to media reports. The S61 is part of the

Norway’s public roads administrator - Statens Vegvesen – said it will invest €13.8 billion in new roads over the next six years. The investment is part of the national transport plan - Nasjonal Transportplan. The Administration states that it will require about €4.3 billion in tolling fees, excluding other tolling fees from projects headed by Norwegian road construction company Nye Veier. Terje Moe Gustavsen, road director at Statens Vegvesen, said that around €3 billion will be earmarked for environment