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A new joint venture factory in South Korea has now been completed for the Hyundai Cummins partnership. The 78,045m2 Hyundai Engine Company (HCEC) plant is located in Daegu and will produce engines for construction machines. The two firms agreed a deal to establish the joint venture plant, capable of producing 50,000 engines/year, back in December 2012. This operation has a sales target of US$500 million by 2020, and is expected to create about 3,700 direct and indirect jobs in the region by 2020.

Engine firm Deutz reports a strong financial performance for the first quarter of 2014. The company says it won new orders amounting to €414.2 million in the first three months of the new year, outstripping the €388.5 million achieved in the same period last year by 6.6%.

The Australian government is providingUS$1.39 billion (AUD 1.5 billion) to finance the second phase of Victoria state’s 18km long East West Link road project. According to a statement, the infusion will allow both stages to be built simultaneously. As a result, the project could be completed by 2023. The second stage of the road project will link the Western Ring Road to the eastern section, connecting CityLink and the Eastern Freeway.

According to a TNS Sofres study on driving styles for Axa, the frequency of driving and the kilometres travelled annually by France’s 18 to 25 year olds are higher than the national average. The study, which focuses on 350 young drivers in this demographic in addition to 1,200 other drivers, shows that they underestimate the dangers of using smartphones while driving. The study also showed that 62% of 18 to 25 year olds drive when they are tired.

Drivers of heavy vehicles should be careful where they choose to park - image courtesy of Jane Isaacs

A Serbian daily newspaper has reported that Zezelj road and railway bridge, over the Danube river by the city of Novi Sad, is still in need of repairs, more than 15 years after NATO bombs destroyed it.

Joint venture contractor Skanska Balfour Beatty has completed work on a 19km section of the M25 motorway in the UK, six months ahead of schedule. Work on the M25 scheme between junctions 5 and 7 in Kent and Surrey forms part of a new generation of technology-driven improvements on the UK’s strategic road network.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing financial backing worth €144 million for the new M17/M18 Gort-Tuam motorway project. The M17/M18 Gort to Tuam PPP Scheme is situated in the west of Ireland and will be constructed as a four lane motorway that will replace the existing N17/N18 roads. This new motorway will reduce journey times by around 20 minutes and has an overall cost estimated at €550 million. Construction work will start during this year and this is the second transport PPP to be signed un

The National Highways Authority of India has awarded a US$529.67 million (INR 32 billion) Yedeshi-Aurangabad NH21 four-lane highway project in India to India-based IRB Infrastructure Developers (IRB Infrastructure). With a concession period of 26 years, the project is scheduled for completion in 910 days.

Entries for Spain’s V International Award on Road Innovation ‘Juan Antonio Fernández del Campo’ are being accepted until 19 May 2014. The award contest, organised by the Spanish Road Association Foundation (FAEC), began in 2005 with the aim of contributing to the development of road technology worldwide through investigations that improve innovation in the road sector.

A massive bridge project in China is due to commence shortly. The work involves the construction of a bridge that will be nearly 20km long and the project is expected to cost close to US$672 million in all. The bridge will run from Xiangzhou district and connect through to Zhuhai city. The structure is expected to be ready to carry traffic in May 2017.

Plans are in hand in South Africa for road improvements to a key link between Pongola and eDumbe. The work involves improvements to some 77km of road in all and is expected to cost in the region of US$113 million.

Mexico’s Puebla State has major plans to develop its infrastructure, with the transport network having been placed as a priority for economic growth. A budget of some US$1.21 billion has been set out for infrastructure projects between 2014 and 2018. Of this, some 66.2% will be used to construct a new highway.