News

JCB has won one of the biggest engine supply deals after securing an annual contract with Terex GB worth around £4.5 million. The agreement sees JCB supply Terex with engines for site dumpers made at Terex’s plant in the city of Coventry. The engines, made by JCB Power Systems in Derbyshire, UK, will be the fuel efficient Ecomax 55kW/74HP stage3B/Tier 4 Final models. Initially, they will power two Terex site dumper models, the TA6 and TA6S. JCB chief executive Graeme Macdonald said the “major mil

A study carried out in Argentina by NGO Luchemos por la Vida reveals that female drivers are safer than male drivers. The study was based on data from 4,724 drivers in Buenos Aires city. The results reveal that women drivers take fewer risks and are less likely to break the law than male drivers. Women drivers wear seat belts more than men, are less likely to drive through red lights and are also less likely to use a phone while behind the wheel. The findings match previous international studies.

The Slovak Finance Ministry has confirmed that it has earmarked two projects for which it will apply to the EU for funds from the newly created European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI). European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker recently announced the creation of the US$26.2 billion EFSI fund as part of EC's $388 billion three-year investment plan to boost Europe's struggling economy. The two projects for which Slovakia plans to apply for funds from EFSI are the completion of the construct

Changes to the third stage of the planned WestConnex motorway have been announced by Duncan Gay, Roads Minister of Australia’s New South Wales state. The motorway tunnel will be 8km, around 1km longer than initially announced under the US$9.7 billion WestConnex project of 33km of new roads around the city of Sydney. The changes are not likely to cost more, according to the NSW government. The third stage would cover the route between Haberfield and St. Peters and be constructed between 2018 and 2023.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is approving a loan worth US$105 million for Paraguay. The loan will cover work along San Juan Nepomuceno -route 6- road. The bank recently approved USD 150mn for Paraguay's national development agency AFD, as well as other loans to support small and medium size companies and improve roads across the country.

A new report from IDTechEx Research highlights the value of electric vehicle range extenders. This business segment could be worth some $125 billion. The new IDTechEx Research report “Range Extenders for Electric Vehicles 2015-2025” analyses and forecasts options and trends for range extenders in all applications. The report highlights that over $125 billion will be spent on this technology by 2025. Recent developments for the sector include specialist three cylinder engines and gas turbines as range ext

In Serbia construction work is on track for the Zemun-Borca road project. The new road link should be open to traffic by the end of 2014. The cost of the project has not been revealed however. Some stretches of the new link are already being used unofficially, by pedestrians.

Serbia is on schedule with its construction programme for highways and roads. The country looks set to have completed 64km of highways and 15km of parallel or link roads during 2014. This figure compares favourably with the average 50km/year construction rate across most European countries currently building highways. Meanwhile Serbian road company Koridori Srbije looks set to merge with the road company Putevi Srbije. Koridori Srbije has already built 51km of highways during 2014. The remainder should be c

The Polish town of Marki is to benefit from a new 15km ring road, which will be constructed by a consortium comprising the contractors Astaldi and Salini. The project has a total value of some €167.4 million. The first section will measure 8.1km and run from Kobylka and Marki junctions. Salini plans to complete this stretch in 32 months. Meanwhile, the second section will run between Radzymin Pld and Kobylka junctions and will be completed in 36 months. Meanwhile work on the final section of the S8 road has

In the Philippines a new road connection forms part of a wider plan to upgrade the key Subic Bay Port. The work is being planned by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the new road link will connect through to the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX). The work is expected to cost US$245.3 million, with $156.09 million for the port expansion and $89.2 million for the new road. The new road connection is of key importance to the port project as it will help with the transport of goods to and from the si