News

Germany’s Transport Ministry is to test Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems in two key infrastructure projects. The two pilot projects will be for the road and rail sectors. The technology provides a digital 3D model of the construction project which will allow for the planning, construction and usage of the project to be presented. The BIM system also incorporates deadline and cost planning aspects of construction projects. The German Transport Ministry aims to use the technology to uncover any co

The first of Parsons Brinckerhoff’s regional seminars on how the UK should deliver whole-life asset management of its highways will held in Newcastle today, 23 October. The seminars, called Cracking up or Cracking on, are being run in association with the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT), whose president, . David Gibby, will introduce the event. The cost of maintaining the country’s roads is constantly under pressure from growing demand on the system and increasingly common extr

New highway investment plans have been made for Russia’s Kurgan and Krasnodar regions. Some 240km of roads and 13 bridges are planned to be constructed in the Kurgan Region (Urals) by 2021. Overall the investment in transport links is estimated at close to US$489 million for the region. Around $464.4 million of this will be provided by the regional budget, while the region expects to receive some $29.3 million from the federal budget. This investment will see 78% of the Kurgan Region’s road network being su

Moroccan motorway operator Autoroutes du Maroc (ADM) says that the company now has 1,511km of operational motorways. This network has cost some US$5.2 billion to construct and the motorways now represent 3% of Moroccan roads, while carrying some 20% of total traffic volumes. The aim of the motorway construction programme has been to boost connectivity and according to ADM, 60% of the population is now connected to a motorway, with 80% of industrial complexes and 76% of tourist zones linked to the network. A

Zoomlion has set another world record, this time for one of its latest tower crane models. The new T3000 has now been officially recognised as the world’s largest topless tower crane, and authenticated by the Guinness World Records. The machine was unveiled earlier this year in an event held at Zoomlion’s Changde Industrial Park and was introduced by Zoomlion vice president and general manager of the company’s crane division, Huang Qun, and the director of the China Construction Machinery Test Centre Ceng S

Columbia’s Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (ANI) will announce the winning consortium for the country’s first public-private partnership (PPP) road project in November. The 235km project will be the second road linking Ibague and Cajamarca. A consortium made up of Colpatria, Latinco, Mincivil, HB Estructuras Metalicas and Termotecnica Coindustrial is bidding for the contract that is expected to need nearly US$21millon in funding. Construction will be done in five different sections and conducted

The organisers of the 2016 Hillhead quarrying and construction machinery show have announced the dates for the event. The exhibition will be held at Lafarge Tarmac’s, Hillhead Quarry, near Buxton, Derbyshire, England from 28th-30th June 2016. This will be the 17th edition of the exhibition and the organisers of the event, QMJ, have said that following the success of this year’s 2014 show, demand for stand space is expected to be high. Further details will be posted on the website at www.hillhead.com in due

In Turkey plans are moving forward for the construction of a new tunnel link in Güzeldere. The project is worth some US$177 million and requires the construction of twin tunnels measuring 3km long. The new tunnels will reduce journey times from 45 minutes at present to just 5 minutes. The work will improve safety on the route, as well as cutting congestion at peak periods.

Construction work on four expressways is commencing in China’s Hunan Province. The roads will have a total length of 179km and the work involves building new stretches, as well as widening and improving existing sections. The cost of this road construction work has been estimated at some US$3.69 billion. The four projects are for the reconstruction of a 50.7km stretch of the Lianhuachong-Zhuzhou expressway, work to the 83.5km Wugang-Jingzhou expressway, improvements to the 86.4km Nanxian-Yiyang expressway a

In the Netherlands plans are in hand for a new connection between the A50 and N279 highways. This new link will be constructed in Noord-Brabant Province. The initial plan was for a tunnel running underneath a nature reserve that would carry the four lane highway. However the cost of this option is significantly higher than the other possible solution, constructing the highway through the reserve. The latter option is preferred by the local authorities due to the cost saving but may face opposition on enviro