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Road fatalities increased in the UK during 2014, compared with 2013. The latest official figures from the Department for Transport (DfT) show there were 1,730 deaths on British roads by the year ending in September in 2014, a gain of 1% over the same period for 2013. Worse still, the total killed or seriously injured (KSI) total climbed 4% to 24,360 and child casualties rose 3% to 2,060. Cyclist deaths and serious injuries are up 8% to 3,500. For the year ending September 2014, there were 192,910 reported r

A new coastal highway is being planned in India that will connect the north and south of Mumbai. The project is being planned jointly by the Maharashtra State Government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The US$1.38 billion Nariman Point-Kandivli road project will stretch some 36.5km. The work includes the need to reclaim some 110ha of land, for which a proposal by BMC has been approved by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority. The agreement requires that this area of land can on

Construction is on track for Serbia’s Nis-Dimitrovgrad motorway Corridor 10 project. The construction work of the Nis-Dimitrovgrad stretch is due for completion by the end of 2015. The whole Corridor 10 project should be ready by the end of 2016. The Greek construction firm Actor has the €160 million main contract for the project. Other firms inolved in the project include Czech company Subtera, Greek contractor Terna, Bulgarian firm Trace Group Holding and Spanish company Construcciones Rubau. The project

Both the 2015 World of Asphalt Show & Conference and AGG1 Aggregates Academy & Expo have achieved record-breaking exhibit space and exhibitor participation. The co-located AGG1 and World of Asphalt will be held March 17-19, 2015 at the Baltimore Convention Centre, in the scenic Inner Harbour area of Baltimore, in the northeast US state of Maryland. The shows target the business and professional-development needs of aggregates, asphalt, pavement maintenance and traffic safety industry professionals.

Columbia’s transport minister has said it will take nearly US$168 million and more than two years to finish the controversial La Linea tunnel. Natalia Abello Vives said the government has a “plan B” to finish the 8.65km tunnel, which, as World Highways reported in May, has less than a kilometre remaining to be constructed. It was originally scheduled to be open by last November. The La Linea tunnel project, or Segundo Centenario tunnel, crosses the central mountain range and forms part of the Bogota-B

Some cultures value face-saving over outright confrontation. The placing of infrastructure, be they roads, railways or buildings, often requires compromise on the part of all concerned – developers, highway designers, rail consultants and, not least, people who own the land. There may be no greater monument to this type of compromise than in the Japanese city of Osaka where the Hanshin Expressway meets the Gateway Tower building. Did we say ‘meet’? Not quite, as the highway does not touch the 16-storey off

The Venezuela Government has plans in hand for 52 road projects that will commence during 2015. Close to US$42 billion will be invested in infrastructure projects. The Land Transport Ministry will invest $315 million and USD 911mn will be spent on road repairs and upgrades alone. Several major road projects are due to get underway and include the widening of the Valle-Coche highway and the La Rinconada-Caricuao and San Diego-Valencia tunnels. They also include the extension of the Francisco Fajardo road and

Plans are underway for the Warsaw Ring Road project in Poland. Italian contractor Astaldi made the lowest offer for the project at €289.95 million. The work calls for a 4.6km section of the route to be constructed, including what will be Poland’s longest road tunnel once complete. There have been 10 bidders for the tender, being handled by the Polish road authority GDDKiA. Other bidders included the Porr Polska consortium and a construction consortium comprising contractors Budimex and Strabag.

Data shows that South Africa needs to boost its road safety and cut the rate of deaths and injuries on its network. The country has recorded some 16,000 fatalities from road crashes/year. There were 1,100 fatalities on the country’s roads during December 2014 on its own. The authorities are now looking to improvements in road safety made in Europe, with a view to implementing measures that will cut the death toll on South Africa’s roads. With enforcement of laws on speeding and driving under the influence h

The Mexican Government plans to invest some US$13.72 billion in all into 46 motorway construction projects. Work on these new routes will be carried out during the current administration. The new motorways come in addition to the 85 motorways operating in 2012, when the current administration entered office. So far 13 new motorways have been built with funds of close to $3.77 billion. The 1.4km Distribuidor Vial Palmira motorway was recently opened inaugurated while the 10 lane Cuernavaca beltway project ha

In Vietnam work is now underway on the Bach Dang Bridge project. Costing some US$356.5 million, the new bridge will connect the Ha Noi-Hai Phong Highway and the Ha Long-Hai Phong Highway. The 25m wide bridge will measure some 3km long in all, spanning the Bach Dang River. Much of the funding for this construction project is being supplied by Quang Ninh Province People's Committee. The project is being carried out under the build-operate-transfer model by the Bach Dang Bridge BOT, in collaboration with SE of