News

Measures to improve vehicle safety are being planned for Europe. A new report on vehicle safety has now been adopted by the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). The report has been advocated by FIA Region I and sets an ambitious approach to road safety. The report sets out plans on introducing improvements for both active and passive in-vehicle safety. These proven safety technologies should be introduced as standard for all vehicles, according to the report. T

Retail sales of construction and earthmoving equipment in the UK market grew by 2% in 2018, despite a drop in the last quarter. Prior to the 8% reduction in sales in Q4 (compared with Q4 2017), the trend over the previous two years had been to show steady, but slowing growth each quarter (see graph). Retail sales in the UK market reached nearly 31,000 units, according to the Construction

Slovakia is on track with its transport infrastructure development programme, following a substantial budget set during 2018. Contracts worth a total of €1.5 billion were drawn up in 2018 for an array of transport projects. These include building new highway sections and upgrading existing sections of road or new bridges, as well as developing the country’s rail network. However, some of the funding available remains unspent. EU subsidies had been set to help pay for Slovakia’s transport improvements but b

Morocco is planning a road maintenance programme aimed at tackling excessive wear and tear to the country’s network.

Work is on track for the building of a key toll road project in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan. The 99.35km toll road runs between Samarinda and Balikpapan and will cut the travel time between the two from three hours to just one hour. The project is costing US$653.2 million to carry out. Work is almost complete for the stretches from Muara Jawa to Palaran and from Samboja to Muara Jawa sections. The section from Balikpapan to Samboja should be ready by April 2019 and the stretch from Samarinda to Palaran shou

The Hisgaura Bridge in Colombia remains a source of concern over its structure. The 653m bridge forms part of the Málaga—Los Curos highway and features the longest central span, at 400m, of any cable-stayed bridge in South America. However, Colombia's National Road Institute (Invias) has expressed its doubts over the bridge. Instability and potential high maintenance costs have been cited by Invias as grounds for this concern. The deck of the central section of the bridge is not properly level. It is not c

A 15km stretch of Interstate 64 in the US state of Virginia will be upgraded, allowing it to handle more traffic.

Vietnam is planning 11 expressway projects. The Vietnamese Government has set aside US$239 million for the work, with three projects due to commence during 2019. Further financing will be required to pay for the projects and is being provided by various banks. The three projects starting in 2019 are the Cam Lo to La Son expressway costing $342 million, the Cao Bo to Mai Son expressway costing $215 million and the My Thuan 2 bridge, also costing $215 million. Work on the remaining eight projects will commenc

Improvements and upgrades will be carried out key routes in the west of Melbourne. The Australian city will benefit from US$1.27 billion (A$1.8 billion) of work, which includes boosting capacity on eight key routes. The road sections that will be upgraded include the Duncans Road interchange, the Forsyth Road interchange, Dohertys Road, Palmers Road, Derrimut Road and Dunnings Road. Bridge improvements will allow heavier trucks to use certain routes, including Geelong Road, Hyde Street and Ballarat Road. T

Interest is strong in the contract to build a new stretch of expressway in the north of Poland. Nine bids have been made for the project to built a 17km stretch of the S16 expressway, which lies close to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. This section will connect Borki Wielke and Mragowo and the work also includes construction a bypass around the latter. The bids range in value from €164.4 million up to €234 million. Work is expected to commence in 2020 and take until 2023 to complete.

Terex Cranes reports strong financial performance, with fourth quarter 2018 net sales of $1.2 billion. This performance is an increase of 16% compared with the $1.1 billion achieved for the fourth quarter of 2017. For the full year 2018, Terex reported net sales of $5.1 billion, an increase of 18% over the $4.4 billion achieved for 2017. Meanwhile Terex has also announced it plans to to sell its Demag Mobile Cranes business to the Japanese firm Tadano. In addition, Terex Cranes will exit the mobile crane

Nearly a decade on from when Singapore’s Formula 1 (F1) track was first laid, Shell Bitumen’s high-performance binder, Shell Cariphalte, has been selected once more for resurfacing works. The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) sets stringent standards for the performance of its tracks, which are made even more challenging given Singapore’s climate. The road surface must remain constant, despite temperatures of up to 30oC and humidity levels above 70%. The 5km Marina Bay Street Circuit, which

Construction of the 77km-long Merdare-Nis highway in Serbia is to benefit from external financing. A funding package worth €100 million is being supplied by the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the project. The funding will pay for work on a stretch of the route between Plocnik and Nis in southern Serbia. The highway will improve transport connections with neighbouring Kosovo when it is complete. This project forms part of a series of road building operations in the region, with extensive work having been