News

From 2014 the police in the UK will be able to use drug testing kits to check if drivers are under the influence while at the wheel. After consultation with medical experts, limits have been set for quantities of illegal and legal drugs that are permissible in the bloodstream while a driver is in control of a motor vehicle. Tests have already been carried out on different types of drug testing kits that use saliva samples to determine whether a person is under the influence. These kits have already been int

Balfour Beatty has demolished a farm access bridge over the M8 motorway between junctions 4 and 5 to enable the completion of slip roads for the new Heartlands junction in West Lothian, Scotland. The demolition of Cowhill Bridge is a major milestone for Ecosse Regeneration in the construction of Junction 4a. Using ten excavators equipped with hydraulic breakers and munching attachments, the four span composite construction bridge was successfully removed during a recent 10-hour night time closure of the M8.

In Australia, UBS Infrastructure Fund, Access Capital and Queensland Motorways are reported as heading the bidders' shortlist for the Clem Jones Tunnel of RiverCity. RiverCity's receiver KordaMentha and sell-side adviser Goldman Sachs have ushered through several shortlisted bidders through to the second round. The Clem Jones Tunnel was secured against RiverCity's debt pile of US$1.37 billion (AUD 1.50bn). It is thought that the road may be sold for around $550.3 million (AUD 600mn). Clem Jones Tunnel is sa

Turkey generated US$200.79 million (TRY 390mn) from motorway and bridge tolls in the first half of 2013. In H1 2013, bridges were used by 76.5 million vehicles raising $57.24 million (TRY 111.5mn) revenue. Over the same period, motorways were used by 110 million vehicles raising $143.55 million (TRY 280mn).

A toll plaza may be established by the French government to fund a US$1.53 billion (€1.2 billion) expansion to three-lanes of the A31 motorway from Nancy, France, to Luxembourg. The tolling operation is likely to be somewhere on the busy A31 stretch between Thionville, France, and Luxembourg. Some 100,000 cars travel between Thionville and Luxembourg each day, and it has become an alternative route for travelling between Germany and the Mediterranean.

China's car rental market is set to record a 17% increase in revenue during 2015 to US$6.33 billion (CNY 39bn) compared to 2010, according to Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. The country's top rental firm, China Auto Rental, is expected to be offering more than 100,000 cars by 2018. The firm recently launched a strategic plan to 2018. In June 2013, China Auto Rental hired world famous football player David Beckham as the company's ambassador. The car rental services provider currently offers 55,000 cars

The South Korean government is supporting 167 infrastructure projects, including the construction of new expressways, nationwide with an investment of US$108.61 billion (KRW 124tn), according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Under the plan, the government will invest $35.2 billion (KRW 40tn) on 71 projects that have already been launched. It will spend another $73.41 billion (KRW 84tn) on 96 new projects. The government will seek as much investment from the private sector as possible to ease the bur

The UK government is planning to make improvements to the M5 and M6 as part of its US$150.41 billion (£100bn) infrastructure spending programme. Changes will include motorists being allowed to drive on the hard shoulder, with computerised signs being installed to inform them when it is safe to do so. The Government has also confirmed that it will provide funding for a new link road between the M6 Toll and the M54, while $8.94 billion (£6bn) will be put towards repairing roads and $5.96 billion (£4bn) will b

The Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) today said that the previously scheduled Labor Day (2 Sep) opening of the new East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been postponed. News of the delayed opening was announced at the same time as TBPOC released its investigative report into the 32 bolts that broke on the Bay Bridge in March 2013, and its review of other bolts on the bridge. The contractor now forecasts that the steel saddle retrofit of the failed bolts on the east pier will b

Liebherr reports healthy business performance for 2012, despite tough trading conditions in some markets. Group turnover for 2012 rose 9.1% (€756.2 million) from the previous year and reached a record €9.09 billion, the highest in Liebherr’s history since the firm began operations in 1949. Meanwhile the company continued to invest in its operations with group investments totalling €854 million, an increase of 27.6% (€853.8 million) over the previous year. Meanwhile the workforce grew by 2,468 to some 37,80