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Construction officially started on a two-lane 1.6km road tunnel in the centre of the German city of Karlsruhe. In December, the Stuttgart-based civil engineering subsidiary Ed Züblin announced that it is leading a consortium with Schleith to build the Kriegsstraße car tunnel in the German city of Karlsruhe. Ed Zublin is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Austria-based contractor Strabag. The tunnel in Kriegsstraße is the second part of the Kombilösung public transport infrastructure project to reduce the

The Austrian publicly listed construction group Strabag posted a record year 2016, with an order backlog at a record-high of €14.8 billion. Thomas Birtel, chief executive of Strabag, said that 2016 was a “satisfactory and eventful” year for the company. “We managed to acquire the minority interest in our subsidiary [civil engineering company] Ed Züblin in Stuttgart and of the remaining stake in Raiffeisen evolution, now called Strabag Real Estate.” Both companies are now wholly owned by Strabag. Consolidate

Deutz has announced promising preliminary results for the first quarter of 2017. The firm claims a successful start to the 2017 financial year, with a marked increase in new orders and revenue, as well as an improved operating profit. New orders hit €403.2 million, a 23.2% increase on the first three months of last year when the figure was €327.3 million. In addition, the performance represents a 23.6% gain over the fourth quarter of 2016 when the figure was €326.1 million. At 37,153 engines, unit sales wer

In China work is commencing on the Mulei-Wutongdaquan highway. The work will be carried out in China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and is costing close to US$2.6 billion. The highway will feature four lanes, with two in either direction and will measure 515km long. The project will form the last section of the Beijing-Urumqi Expressway to be completed.

The project to construct the Blanka Tunnel in Czech capital Prague is over budget and behind schedule. So far the project to construct the 6km link has cost Prague council €1.37 billion so far. When complete the final pricetag is expected to be €1.48 billion. The link was originally intended to open to traffic in September 2015. However a string of problems have delayed the project and a final completion date has still to be revealed.

An extensive programme of works will be required to tackle flood damage to roads and bridges in Peru. The country’s Ministry of Transport and Communications believes that US$2.66 billion will be required to tackle the problems right across the country. However funding sources for the necessary repair work have yet to be finalised, with the added complication that some of the damaged links are operated under concessions while others are not. An estimated 3,231km of Peru’s national road network has suffered s

Volvo Construction Equipment reports sales up 30% in the first quarter of 2017 thanks to improving market conditions in all regions except South America. During the first three months of 2017 Volvo CE saw net sales jump by 30% to SEK 16,163 M (SEK 12,452 M in Q1 2016). Operating income was also positively impacted, rising to SEK 1,617 M, up significantly compared to SEK 341 M in the first quarter of 2016. Operating margin also saw good improvement, at 10%, compared to 2.7% in the same period the year before

Construction work on the Americo Vespucio Oriente (AVO) highway in Chile should start soon. This will commence once the environmental impact assessment has been completed. There has been a delay as the environmental impact assessment into the first section of the highway was halted. Allegations were made concerning irregularities over this portion of the work.

The Sir Ambrose Shea lift bridge has received a transportation award of merit. The structure was designed by Parsons and has been given the 2017 Transportation Award of Merit from the Consulting Engineers of Ontario (CEO). As sole prime consultant, Parsons also provided project management and engineering services during construction. Located on the Avalon Peninsula in the town of Placentia, NL, the Sir Ambrose Shea Lift Bridge provides a connection while supporting the region’s commercial fishing industry.

Poland’s highways directorate, GDDKiA, says 12 bids have been received for construction of the second section of the S7 dual carriageway. The 15km section will run from the Lesznowola junction to the Tarczyn Polnoc junction. Metrostav submitted the highest offer at €118 million, while the cheapest offer came from a consortium of Porr Polska Infrastructure and Porr Bau. Other bidders include others, Budimex, Intercor and Polaqua.