News

Carsten Karcher has been appointed secretary general of the European Asphalt Pavement Association (EAPA), based in Brussels. Karcher had been director of EAPA since 2013 and takes over from Egbert Beuving who retired as secretary general at the end of last year. Beuving will continue within EAPA as chairman of the organising committee of the Eurasphalt & Eurobitume Congress 2020 in Madrid and will remain as convenor of CEN TC227 WG1 for a several more years. Meanwhile, Breixo Gómez-Meijide, who joi

A new transport plan for Colombia’s capital, Bogota, is intended to cut congestion. The plans are being drawn up by Bogota council's Urban Development Institute (IDU). In all 75 separate works are included in the plan, ranging from building or upgrading 155km of roads to constructing 183km of cycle lanes. Of the 75 works outlined in the plans, the aim is for 20 to be complete by the end of 2019. The IDU estimates that the work will cost US$5.5 billion to carry out. Upgrades to the Avenida Ferrocarril shoul

Work on a new road and bridge project is planned to start in Myanmar during 2019 and is expected to take until 2022 to complete. The construction of this new link will improve transport connections with neighbouring China. The US$100 million project will be carried out in Myanmar’s Shan State, lying on the country’s eastern border with China. In all, the new bridge and road will run for 19.3km and will link Nawngcho with Gote Hteik. The existing road passes through a mountainous area along this stretch and

A pre-feasibility study is being planned for Vietnam’s Hoa Binh-Moc Chau Expressway project. Construction of the expressway is expected to cost US$857.4 million, with the work being handled under the PPP model. The 85km is planned to feature two lanes in either direction. Construction of the expressway is expected to reduce journey times between Hanoi and Son La, close to the border with Laos, from six hours at present, to just 2.5 hours in the future.

Dana Incorporated has completed the acquisition of the SME Group, based at Arzignano in Italy. The firm is a specialist suppliers of low-voltage AC induction and synchronous reluctance motors, inverters, and control. These are used in a wide range of off-highway electric vehicle applications. The addition of SME’s low-voltage motors and inverters expands Dana’s electrified product portfolio. These products are primarily designed to meet the evolution of electrification in off-highway equipment. “Dana’

Work will commence soon on Indonesia’s South Cikampek II-Jakarta toll road project. The 64km highway project is benefiting from funding from the Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Central Asia, and Bank Mandiri. These have each contributed US$91.06 million. In all, the project is costing $970 million. The project is being managed by Indonesian firm Jasamarga Japek Selatan.

A new cable-stayed bridge is being built in China’s Jiangsu Province. The 1,176m-long bridge will span the Yangtze River. The bridge is featuring an innovative design and its construction will utilise new technologies and novel use of materials. The bridge itself forms part of a 5.3km-long crossing over the river. This crossing will include a road crossing on its upper level with multiple lanes and a rail crossing with several tracks on its lower level.

Road widening work is being planned for Sydney, New South Wales in Australia. The project encompasses widening a 3km stretch of Prospect Highway to four lanes and a 2.2km section of Memorial Avenue to four lanes also. Both sections features just two lanes at present and the work is expected to cost US$211.6 million (A$300 million). The tendering process is due to commence shortly, with construction planned to start in late 2019. The work will include building new bridges over the M4 Highway and Great Wester

Romania will open nearly 44km of new roads in 2019, including parts of the A1 Motorway between Deva and Lugoj. Also to be opened are an 8km stretch between Sebes and Alba Iulia Sud as well as an 18km section of the A3 Motorway between Chetani and Iernut. CNAIR – the National Road Management Infrastructure Company - estimates that drivers will be able to make use of 925km of high-speed motorways in Romania by the end of 2019, around 120km more than at present. Last summer, Romania’s transport minist

Poland’s General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) will announce tenders worth around €4.64 billion for construction of around 435km of roads this year. Included will be 172km of the S19 expressway in Podlaskie and Podkarpackie, a 60km stretch of the S7 expressway in Mazowsze and Malopolskie and a 50km section of the S11 expressway in Zachodniopomorskie. Late last year, a Polish parliamentary commission said that it had heard that €11.14 billion of road investment within the 2014-2

A legal dispute has arisen regarding some of the materials testing processes carried out for the landmark Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge project. The argument is focusing on whether or not 12 technicians manipulated the results of testing concrete samples taken from the bridge during construction. It is alleged that managers of the test facility told the technicians to change the time settings on the equipment carrying out the tests, due to samples not being tested within the eight hour time period require

New EU rules covering road infrastructure safety and minimum vehicle safety have been given approval in the European Parliament. The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) is now calling for the EU to reach a final deal on both pieces of legislation. The European Parliament’s Transport committee voted to approve an update to rules governing road infrastructure safety management. The existing requirements ensure governments carry out regular road safety audits, identify high-risk sites and prioritise s

Using advanced vehicle to vehicle communications, this data could be shared between cars and trucks using the same stretch of road. Multiple alerts over road surface issues could also be used to highlight the need for debris removal or road repairs to road authorities.

Colombia has set a new date for the completion of the La Linea tunnel project of May 2020. The project has been subject to a series of delays due to issues such as insufficient financing, unexpected geological problems and even the wrong type of insurance cover. The completion date for the main tunnel stretch has been moved back several times, but it is hoped that it will finally be completed on the date, which was announced by Colombia’s president, Ivan Duque. The completion of the entire project, whic