News

Plans are in hand in Switzerland for a new highway connection between Locarno and the rest of the country’s national highway network. A study by an engineering consultancy has suggested six options, with costs estimated from €530-€798 million, and all will require tunnel construction.

The Bosnian autonomous entity Republika Srpska recently cancelled a highway contract with Austrian construction company Strabag. The problem arose from alleged “irregularities” that saw the contract being awarded directly to Strabag without the work being put out for tender. Because of this, international financial institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have said they will not fund the project.

The authorities in Taiwan are giving approval for amendments to the road traffic violation regulations in a bid to crack down on the use of mobile devices by drivers. The new amendment to the law will impose a US$34.00 fine for any car driver or motorcycle rider using a cell phone, mobile device or other electronic device while driving. Motorcyclists and drivers were banned from using mobile handsets when they were driving, under the previous rules. But the amended rules now prohibit the use of handheld PCs

Targets are being set for road investment, construction and repairs in Russia. To meet the country’s infrastructure needs, Russia’s National Association of Builders estimates that some 1,500km of roads must be built/year. Meanwhile the highway authorities in Moscow are aiming to repair around 33% of the city’s road surface every year. Some 23.6 million m2 of road surface will be repaired in Moscow during 2012, compared with 24.7 million m2 in 2011.

ZF has celebrated 50 years of developing and producing driveline technology and axle systems for construction machinery at its location in Passau, Germany. The company is also celebrating two world premieres: ZF cPower, a continuously variable construction machinery transmission, and ZF Ergopower Hybrid.

The German government intends to increase spending on transport infrastructure compared to 2008 when €9.1 billion was invested. However, Germany’s road transport lobby group, Pro Mobilität, says that the planned investment in roads will still be too low. It estimates that in 2011 less than €10 billion will be spent on transport infrastructure, including €4.8 billion on roads, which is not sufficient for all projects planned.

Ireland’s government is undergoing a period of belt-tightening, with a string of budget cuts that will directly impact on the transport sector. The country was in the process of spending heavily on its infrastructure but with the tough economic climate it is now facing, a number of road projects are among those facing the axe. The Irish government is slashing its infrastructure spending from €39.6 billion to €22.9 billion between now and 2013. This looks likely to result in 40 road projects, including hig

The Actia Group, an international provider of value-added electronic equipment for the automotive market, has selected Sierra Wireless AirPrime AR Series modules to provide high-performance connectivity for its latest in-vehicle technology platform. The new platform, called the ACU-II (Actia Connect Unit second generation), uses the AirPrime module to allow drivers to connect and manage various functions of vehicles through a smartphone application, giving them the ability to, for example, lock or unlock th

The New Holland Construction plant in Lecce, Italy, has been awarded the international Occupational Health and Safety Management System certification OHSAS 18001 by the prestigious SGS certification organisation. The plant has already received the ISO 9001 for Quality Management and the ISO 14001 for Environmental Management standards.

TRL has launched a special website that allows people around the globe to rate their street, using a five-star rating system. The Ratemystreet website is an easy-to-use tool utilising Google maps and Google Streetview, and unlike other wesbites it focuses on a street’s walkability, says TRL. Ratemystreet (www.ratemystreet.co.uk) is a complementary tool to TRL’s successful PERS (Pedestrian Environment Review System) software, an expert tool co-developed with Transport for London, which combines both qualit

Construction work is now underway on a massive highway project at Wuhan in China. The US$5.5 billion project is due for completion on 2015 and involves the construction of a four ring highway with a total length of 146km. The highway project is being designed with six traffic lanes in either direction and will have a speed limit of 100km/h.

ASECAP has welcomed the adoption of the European Parliament and the Council of the proposal for a directive on intelligent transport systems (ITS), laying down the framework for the deployment of ITS in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other transport modes. “Intelligent transport systems are essential applications for motorway operators to strengthen the efficiency of their networks, to increase safety and to permanently improve the level of service provided to the European citizens,” s