News

A series of new road projects are planned for the Philippines. The plans call for new road and bridge links to improve transport connections between the capital Manila and the country’s second city, Luzon. One of the most important road links will be the 17.3km connection from the Subic container terminals to the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), avoiding the congested Freeport area. Another important project is for a 65km expressway connecting Subic Freeport to the country’s capital. Plans are also be

Plans are being developed in Australia for a major highway connection in Melbourne. Some US$7.45 billion (A$10 billion) is being planned by the Victoria State Government to fund the construction, with this being delivered through state rather than federal sources. However a final decision will not be made on the project until 2018, after the next local elections. If the project does get the final go ahead it will connect the Metropolitan Ring Road and the Eastern Freeway.

A feasibility study is planned to evaluate a project to construct a new causeway connecting Saudi Arabia with Bahrain.

Work is pushing ahead with the construction of the Corridor 10 and Corridor 11 highway projects in Serbia. Sections of the highway projects will be opened to traffic in 2017. All of Corridor 10 will be ready for use while the Obrenovac to Preljina stretch of Corridor 11 will open. Other road projects will commence including links running through Moravski and Fruskogorski. The Serbian Government doubled its infrastructure spending to €608.14 million for 2016, with a substantial portion being provided through

Colombia’s capital Bogota looks set to gain from key road projects, with te country’s National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) unveiling detailed plans for upcoming works. Plans are being worked on for the widening of the 53km road linking Los Andes and Cajica with the construction of an extra lane. This is a US$$156.56 million project and will be funded by private sources. The pre-feasibility study for the Autopista Norte road extension has already passed the approval stage and this project will also be funded

Further progress is being made with the Agua Negra Tunnel project, which will connect Chile with Argentina. A loan worth US$40 million is being provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). This loan will help deliver the bidding process for the project. Several bidders are being pre-qualified for the tender process. Construction of the tunnel itself is expected to take eight ant a half years with the work estimated to cost $1.6 billion. The tunnel will provide a safer and more reliable route than

Construction work is underway on India’s Bogibeel Bridge, which will span the Brahmaputra River. When complete the bridge is expected to come with a price tag of US$746.8 million. The new bridge will provide both road and rail links over the Brahmaputra River and is expected to open to traffic in March 2018. The novel design features an upper deck with three traffic lanes for road vehicles as well as a lower deck carrying twin rail lines. Measuring 4.9km long, the bridge will be the longest in India carryin

The authorities in Paraguay are devising plans to upgrade a 500km stretch of the important Rute 9 highway. The plans are being drawn up by the Paraguay Road Chamber (Cavialpa) and will be presented to the country’s Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC). Should the plans then be accepted, this will allow the improvement works for Ruta 9, also known as Transchaco, to go ahead. The entire upgrade project is expected to cost in the region of US$450 million and should take around three years to comp

Construction will commence in April 2017 on a new road tunnel link in Karlsruhe. Austrian contractor STRABAG has an 84% stake in the consortium, which also includes Schleith, building the link. Civil design is being handled by Ed Züblin meanwhile. The new Kriegsstraße vehicle tunnel in Karlsruhe will carry two lanes of road traffic underground, while providing a surface connection for trams, pedestrians and cyclists. The tunnel construction forms part of the wider Kombilösung public transport infrastructure

Work is commencing on a new road link that will connect the A89 and A6 Autoroutes in France’s Rhône Department. In addition, work is also underway on the construction of the new Semanet viaduct connecting Route Nationale 6 with Autoroute 6. The viaduct is being built with a steel deck sitting on concrete supports. The construction work is being managed by Autoroute operator APRR. Once the work is complete in 2018, it will help reduce journey times between Bordeaux and Geneva.

A new bridge is being built in Austria to span the Danube River. The project is expected to cost €60 million. The new link will be constructed in the city of Linz. Construction of the new Donaubrücke (Danube Bridge) will commence in late 2017. The link is expected to open to traffic in the third quarter of 2020. The state of Upper Austria will provided 40% of the financing required.

The Czech government is to speed up motorway building in 2017, with 140km of new roads planned. The announcement comes as the country is looking at a new laws designed to streamline infrastructure tendering and to improve construction management, according to CIJ – Construction and Investment Journal. Projects can sometimes take as long as 12 years to get off the ground, the journal reported. Skanska boss Michal Jurka, the head of Skanska in the Czech Republic and Slovakia since September, said p

Workers in Slovakia have broken through the first of two passages in a tunnel near Zilina as part of an 11km D1 highway project. Breakthrough of the second passage of the tunnel on the section Hricovske Podhradie-Lietavska Lucka will likely be in January. Around 80m are still to be bored, according to a report in the Slovak Spectator on-line newspaper. Zilina is in northwestern Slovakia, around 200km from the capital Bratislava and close to the Czech and Polish borders. Juraj Valent, head of the Na