News

A series of road repairs in Guatemala will help repair roads damaged by the recent El Fuego volcano eruption. The country’s Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV) has set a budget of US$31 million to be used for emergency road repair work. Some of this is being used from the country’s emergency fund while another portion is being brought forward from the budget intended for 2019.

Tanzania is setting out ambitious plans for road development with a series of projects being scheduled during 2018 and 2019. A budget of US$658.4 million has been set by the Tanzanian Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications for the period. This is intended to pay for works on 62 separate road projects. The plan forms part of a wider programme of works intended to boost road connectivity across East Africa. Included in this strategic plan are new highways, upgrades to existing routes to add capacity

A new report highlights speeding as a significant factor in a worryingly high percentage of road crashes. According to the report, inappropriate speed is responsible for between 20% and 30% of all road crashes involving fatalities. The report is based on a review of research into the relationship between speed and crash risk and has been produced by the OECD’s International Transport Forum (ITF).

A US$11.8 million contract in Zambia will be handled by Irish engineering consultant Nicholas O'Dwyer. The firm has the contract for design review, financial and technical supervision of a major road project. The 350km dual carriagway will connect Lusaka with Ndola and pass through Kite. This is expected to cost $1.2 billion, while construction will take 36 months. Building the dual carriageway will provide better transport to and from a number of the country’s copper mines, which are important for the Zamb

Funding is being secured for a road rebuild and widening project in Tajikistan. The 82km road runs between Dushanbe and Bokhtar and the work should be complete by 2023. The Chinese contractor Xinjiang Beixin is working on phase 1 of the project, building a 33km stretch of the route that is costing US$96 million. Phase 2 of the project is for a 40km section of the route, with construction due to start in the second half of 2018. The phase 2 construction work will be financed by $90 million of funding being s

A new interchange is being built in the city of Casablanca, Morocco that will improve traffic flow. Casablanca suffers heavily from congestion at peak periods and the Nœud A interchange development project is expected to reduce jams and improve journey times for drivers. The project is nearly ready and features 12 bridges, while it is costing US$74 million. The interchange is expected to handle 18,800 vehicles/hour at peak periods by 2025, according to projections for Morocco’s economic development and anti

Major road repairs are now required on a busy highway route in Mexico. The Cuernavaca bypass in Morelos State now features a large sinkhole, a mere 300m from the location of another sinkhole that opened up in mid-2017. The Paso Expres bypass cost US$104.4 million and was constructed by the contractors Aldesa and Epcor. The previous sinkhole opening resulted in two fatalities. The project has been criticised for inadequacies with regard to the drainage installed during construction.

Slovakia’s national motorway company NDS expects that the Bratislava bypass on the D4 motorway together with the Karpaty tunnel will be completed around 2030. The D4 motorway is part of the trans-European transport network and will connect with the planned R7 expressway linking western and eastern Slovakia, and the existing D1 and D2 motorways”. Apart from construction works on part of the D4 motorway, another two stretches are planned on this link, including the 3.6km stretch from Devinska Nova Ves t

Technology specialist Bluebeam is broadening its portfolio with the acquisition of the privately owned firm Project Atlas. The purchase will expand Bluebeam’s capabilities as Project Atlas developed a digital mapping engine that uses geo-location instead of traditional folder structures to organise and visualise 2D plans and construction data. This location-based orientation allows design and construction professionals to create and search a digital map of their project that contains plans, people, material