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Vietnam is expanding its road and highway network with a series of major projects, as well as numerous upgrades to rural roads. A funding deal worth US$1.6 billion is being provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the Ben Luc yo Long Thanh National Highway. This route connects Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City and Long An. A portion of the necessary funding for ground clearance for the route is being provided by Vietnam’s State Budget. However the country is stopping work on the National Highway 3 project

A South Korean contractor, GS Construction, looks set to build the new Selander Bridge in Tanzania’s capital, Dar es Salaam. The deal was signed between GS Construction and the Tanzania National Roads Agency (Tanroad). The new bridge comes with a pricetag of some US$126.26 million and will take until 2021 to complete. The project includes the 1.4km bridge plus upgrades to up to 7km of connecting roads. Nearly 83% of the funding required for the project will be supplied by South Korean sources, with the

A construction partnership is looking to build a new toll road connecting Cikunir with Ulujami in Indonesia. The route will be 36.5km long and will help to reduce the chronic congestion around the capital, Jakarta. Building the route is expected to cost US$1.57 billion. The firms involved in the project include both state-owned and privately held companies.

Ghana is looking to secure a major financing package from China for road infrastructure improvements. The intended funding deal will be in the form of a loan, which will be used to build new road links and upgrade existing routes. One of the key projects being prioritised is an upgrade to the route connecting Wa with Bulenga in the north of the country and close to the border with Burkina Faso.

India continues to develop its road network, with the country’s ambitious plans moving ahead. Contracts for 6,320km of road projects have so far been awarded by the current Indian Government. This is for the first phase of the programme and the work is worth a massive US$20.95 billion in all. However the entire programme of road development will cover some 84,000km of roads and will be worth an eye-popping $109.1 billion.

Ecuador is working on plans for the new South Crossing Bridge (SCB) spanning the Guayas River, to improve transport connections for the port of Guayaquil. The plans call for the SCB to be constructed in three sections, with the project expected to cost US$1.04 billion. The schedule calls for the link to be completed in 2022, with work starting in the third quarter of 2018. The project is being handled under 40-year concession deal that encompasses the bridge and highway links.

The concession package for a key road link in Ecuador has been awarded to the contractor Verdu. The firm has a 20-year concession for the 162km road link connecting Guayaquil with Salinas. The arrangement is being handled under the PPP model and is requiring an initial investment of US$72 million. A further sum of $232 million will be required to maintain and upgrade the link.

Land is being acquired for a major expressway project in India. In all 10,649 individual land sale arrangements have been made with 20,916 owners for the Nagpur-Mumbai expressway project. Buying the land has cost close to US$775 million so far, with around 86% of the land needed for the project having now been acquired. The deals have been handled by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).

Striping Service and Supply is the first US contractor certified by the Texas Department of Transportation to operate the RetroTek-MU road striping Retroreflectometer. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute stringent certification programme provides a quantitative basis for evaluating the ability of a contractor to operate the RetroTek-MU retroreflectometer. The vehicle-mounted RetroTek-MU - manufactured by Reflective Measurement Systems, based in Dublin, Ireland - measures the retroreflectivity of lo

Construction work on the Kramertunnel in South Germany is to restart. The tunnel is needed to help reduce traffic delays in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the southern German state of Bavaria and with lies next to the border with Austria. The twin tube tunnel stretches will both be around 2.8km long and the project will also include building six bridges as part of the new bypass around the town. The new bypass, with its tunnel and bridges, is required as traffic jams occur regularly in the town on th

A new road safety conference is being planned in Morocco. This event is intended to help address poor road safety across Africa as a whole, in a bid to cut the shockingly high casualty rate. The event is being organised by the Moroccan National Committee for Prevention of Road Accidents. The African continent has a high risk of death for road crashes for vulnerable users. Pedestrians and cyclists represent 43% of Africa’s road victims. On a global level, vulnerable road users account for an average of 26