News

The tender process for the Msikaba Bridge project in South Africa is now being reopened. This is being handled by the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral). The project is costing US$128.25 million and involves the construction of a 580m long suspension bridge. The structure will span the Msikaba River and will be located around 23km to the east of the town of Lusikisiki. Once complete this will be the longest suspension bridge in South Africa. According to Sanral, the tender process is now likely to

Tanzania’s road network is becoming safer according to the latest official figures. Information from Tanzania's Police Traffic Department shows that the number of crashes from July to September 2017 was 48% lower than for the same period in 2016. There were just 1,264 crashes in this time in 2017 compared with 2,639 in 2016. With fewer crashes it follows that deaths and injuries have also seen a reduction of 32% and 40% respectively.

Construction work is commencing on a key contract in Malaysia to build a new bridge. The US$106.4 million project is being handled by the contractor Naza EC and is for the construction of the 1.5km long Bagan Datuk Bridge, as well as an 8.7km long link road. The work is intended to improve transport connections between Malaysia’s Bagan Datuk, Perak Tengah, and Manjung districts. Once complete, the new link will reduce journey times for drivers from one hour at present to just 15 minutes.

A major highway project in the US state of Vriginia has been awarded to a joint venture team comprising Granite Construction, Parsons Corporation, and Corman Construction. The firms will handle the Interstate 64 (I-64) Southside Widening and High Rise Bridge, Phase 1 design-build contract, which was awarded by the Virginia Department of Transportation. Construction work for the US$410 million joint venture project is scheduled to commence in November 2017 and should be completed in July 2021.

Ferrovial’s subsidiary Cintra is part of a joint venture that has been selected as preferred respondent for the Western Roads Upgrade project in western Melbourne. The State of Victoria awarded the deal to Netflow, a joint venture between Plenary and Cintra with a focus on road projects in Australia and New Zealand. The win includes Ferrovial subsidiaries Broadspectrum and Amey taking charge of maintenance on the project worth nearly US$1.4 billion. The overall contract is for the design, construction and

Brazil’s anti-corruption drive continues, with the country’s Federal Police now carrying out investigations into a series of road projects across the country. So far the investigations have seen police action being taken in four states across the country, including search and seizure operations. The investigations are focussing on issues such as whether bribes have been paid to secure contracts or whether fraud surrounds a number of loans. Concern that funds intended for road maintenance, repairs or

A new bypass project in the Philippines will benefit from funding being supplied by Japan. The Bulacan Bypass project will be located on Luzon Island and will improve transport connections to and from the Bulacan area, lying to the northeast of the capital Manila. The new bypass road will connect Central Luzon to Metro Manila. Once the route is open to traffic, it is expected to improve journey times and cut congestion for drivers. The complete financing package has yet to be agreed between the two

Vietnam’s Belt Road Three project is being planned at present, with some of the financing still being sought. The route will run between Tan Van District and Nhon Trach District, crossing the Dong Nai River. The project is expected to cost US$2.46 billion to construct and will feature four lanes initially, with additional lanes being built in future phases. The 89.3km route has been approved and runs through the provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Long An, as well as through the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh

Construction work on Russia’s Frunzensky Bridge is now well under way. The bridge spans the Samara River, a tributary of the Volga River and was originally planned for completion by 2018. The construction company Stroytransgaz has a US$213.5 million contract to finish the project and the bridge is now expected to be ready for traffic by 2020. The bridge project did face challenges from insufficient funding and cost increases but the necessary financing package is now in place. When complete the bridge is in

The preparatory work is underway for a stretch of the Ipswich Motorway widening project in Queensland Australia. The project is worth around US$318.6 million (A$400 million). This first section of the widening work is 3km long and runs from Granard Road at Rocklea to the Oxley roundabout. The work involves widening the route from four lanes at present to six lanes and improving seven bridges, which includes increasing the height of the bridge over Oxley Creek. The 10km widening project is intended to reduce