News

Plans are being drawn up in Tunisia for the Maghreb Motorway project.

Jamaica is seeing an improvement in road safety, with a reduction in casualty levels. So far in 2017, overall road deaths have been 49 less than in the same period during 2016. The road death toll at the end of 2017 is hoped to be significantly lower than in 2016, itself an improvement over the previous year. During 2016 there were 379 road deaths in Jamaica, compared with 382 in 2015.

The organisers of the Hillhead 2018 quarry exhibition in the UK says that the show’s Main Pavilion is now officially sold out. So far 97% of outdoor space already allocated and stands also selling quickly in the recently extended Registration Pavilion. Event director Richard Bradbury commented, “We have had an overwhelming response to next year’s show both from existing customers wanting to rebook and from new enquiries looking to exhibit with us for the first time. Hillhead 2018 is set to be the largest

Argentina is refining the country’s road development plans. The programme calls for investments of US$16.7 billion for the work, which will be carried out on 7,000km of roads. The 16 projects will be run as Public-Private Partnerships. These will be split into several corridors, including Corridor A, Corridor B, Corridor C, Corridor D, Corridor E, Corridor F, Corridor G, Corridor H and Corridor I. The work is being split into three phases. The first tender process is now open and will close in April 2018.

Kenya is on track to build a new highway connection from the port of Lamu to Isiolo. The project is for a 530km highway and will cost US$620 million, with the route running through Garissa. The final route has yet to be identified but it seems likely that the highway will skirt a number of the country’s protected areas that are subject to tight environmental requirements and on which Kenya relies for much of its tourist trade. The project will be carried out by the Lamu Road Consortium (LRC), which comprise

The contract to widen a key section of one of Northern California’s most congested highways has now been awarded. The US$107 million package of works will see the building of a new carpool and express lane along a 14.5km stretch of Interstate 680 in the Bay Area. The lane will be built along the northbound stretch of the highway between the Auto Mall Parkway and Highway 84. The southbound express lane will also be upgraded. Construction on this section is being funded by local sales taxes and the work is

Russia’s M-11 highway connecting its capital Moscow with the second city, St Petersburg, will be fully open to traffic in 2018. The new tolled highway will cut journey times by road between the two cities, providing an important transport link. The 669km highway is one of the most important road projects carried out in Russia in recent years and the link will be operated by the country’s state-owned firm, Avtodor.

Funding for a new highway project in Tunisia is being provided by the African Development Bank. The funding comes in the shape of a loan worth US$145.8 million. The new highway will be sited in the north of the country and its construction is expected to help develop transport and trade and to boost the country’s economy.

Sri Lanka is setting out plans for improvements to around 3,400km of rural roads. The work will largely be paid for through a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The work will cost US$172.1 million in all, of which $150 million will be in the shape of the ADB loan and the remaining $22.1 million coming from the Sri Lankan Government budget.

A large infrastructure project is now being examined closely in Australia, in Victoria State. Melbourne’s massive North East Link in Victoria State will provide a new connection between the Eastern Freeway and the Ring Road at Greensborough. Costing US$13.14 billion to construct, the 26km link is expected to carry up to 100,000 vehicles/day when fully commissioned. The project will be complex and includes building a 5km stretch of tunnel, as well as adding additional lanes to the Eastern Freeway. The

Construction work for Singapore’s North-South Corridor (NSC) project will commence in 2018. South Korean contractor Samsung C&T will carry out the first stage of work for the project in a deal worth just over US$601 million. The package of works was awarded to the firm by Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA).