News

Rural roads in Nepal look set to benefit from an upgrade programme, with partial funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Nepalese Government has set out plans for its Rural Connectivity Improvement Project, which targets upgrade work for 388km of rural roads. These links will be surfaced and financial support of US$100 million for the work will be sourced from the ADB.

The Paris-based World Road Association – PIARC – is backing the Pavement Preservation Recycling Summit (PPRS) to be held in Nice next month. PPRS, organised by Routes de France, ERF (European Road Federation) and IBEF (International Bitumen Emulsion Federation), is set for the Nice Acropolis on March 26-28.

Plantworx 2019 will be held in England at the East of England Arena and Events Centre in the town of Peterborough on June 11-13, 2019. The East of England venue is a permanent exhibition centre which has hosted other ‘big machine’ events such as LAMMA - for agricultural equipment - and Truckfest.

The environmental study for the proposed Mwenda to Kashiba road project is now starting. Stretching 187km, the road project will improve the transport links between Zambia and Congo DR. The road project will cost an estimated US$475 million and will be carried out under the PPP model. The project includes the construction of a new bridge over the Luapala River, which forms much of the border between Zambia and Congo DR. In addition, a smaller bridge over the Luongo River in Zambia will also be built.

Work is now commencing on widening a stretch of the A3 Autobahn where it passes through the Bavarian city of Regensburg. The 15km section of the A3 will be widened from its present two lanes to three lanes. The project is costing €270 million and will be carried out on the section from the junction between the A3 and B8 at Rosenhof to the east of Regensburg and running 15km westwards, past the junction with the A93 Autobahn route that connects with the A9 and Munich to the south. This work is needed as the

Morocco is evaluating the feasibility of two major highway projects at present. One is for the addition of an express lane along a 381km route between Mekness and Rissani, and is expected to cost US$484.8 million. The other project is for a 250km highway from Meknes to Errachida and has a projected cost of $1.653 billion. Feasibility studies are being carried out at present, while funds are also being set aside for purchasing the land required.

Croatian media are reporting a dispute between two consortia and that of the China Road and Bridges over the Peljeski bridge project. Croatia’s national roads company Hrvatske Ceste chose China Road and Bridges but the decision is being challenged by a consortium led by the Italian firm Astaldi and one by Turkish CT Ictas. The two consortia submitted their complaints to the Croatian State Commission for Control of Public Ordering Processes in January only days after similar action by another consortia led