News

A leading US highway construction association has renewed its pledge to work with the federal government to reduce deaths and injuries in roadway construction zones. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) said the ‘Work Zone Safety Alliance’ will develop and distribute education material over the next two years aimed at preventing worker injuries and deaths from construction vehicle runovers and backovers. The education drive will also focus on increased outreach to non-English-spe

Q-Free has been awarded AutoPass contracts by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) at a value of over US$5 million. The contracts are related to the E6/E18 Østfold and E6 Øyer-Tretten, and comprise delivery and installation of fully automated toll stations and service and maintenance for five years. Commenting on the contract award, Øyvind Isaksen, Q-Free CEO, said, “It is important for our international activity to have a leading position in our home market, and we will continue to defend this

Road management firm Ruta del Sol intends to invest US$846 million in Colombia’s Ruta del Sol highway during 2012. The highway connects Colombia’s Central region with the Atlantic coast. Ruta de Sol has already invested $282 million in maintenance works for the 600km or so of existing highway and intends to extend the highway by a further 100km. Ruta de Sol has already opened the first 10km of the highway that forms part of the Sector 2 stretch of the, linking Puerto Salgar (Cundinamarca) to San Roque (Cesa

Visionstream Australia has been selected as preferred provider for an AU$62.5 million (US$67 million) contract by VicRoads to deliver the ITS communications infrastructure and intelligence services to the M80 Ring Road in Melbourne, Australia. The installation of this electronic freeway management system along 38kms of road from Laverton North to Greensborough will provide VicRoads with the ability to manage traffic flow and reduce congestion on the M80 and its main connecting roads. Under the contract, Vis

Vitronic Machine Vision Middle East and its Qatar partner Itqan Holding have announced an order for 26 PoliScan systems, 16 of which will be employed for speed enforcement, while ten will operate as combined solutions for speed and red light enforcement. The Doha airport’s operating company Qatar Civil Aviation Authority is Vitronic’s end customer in Qatar and the new systems will be used primarily for enforcement on the Airport Road, built last year. The PoliScan systems’ deployment, Vitronic’s secon

Highway surveying company Yotta DCL has signed a four-year contract worth around US$3.61 million with the UK Highways Agency to survey and monitor some 140,000km of motorway and other major roads across England. As part of the agreement, Yotta DCL will perform a traffic speed condition survey (TRACS) to determine the condition of the road surface, assess the areas in particular need of repair and determine where immediate action needs to be taken. The company will use its new state-of-the-art Tempest highwa

The Indonesian government is committed to developing transport infrastructure leading to the Tanjung Lesung and Sei Mangke special economic zones (SEZs), according to the vice minister of national planning and development Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo. Development of the infrastructure within the zones will be carried out by their management company Perkebunan Nusantara III. Tuwo said the national government will be involved in the development of the Kuala Tanjung port, the nearby national roads and railway t

Alfom, a German IT company, has announced the TripGuard app (www.tripguard.de) for Android (which will shortly also be available for the iPhone) that provides an eCall service in case of emergency. The inventor of the system was driven to develop the software following the tragic death of his mother in the autumn of 2010. Late one night, her car left the road, overturned and was not visible to passing motorists. Seriously injured but still conscious, it was nearly two hours before she was discovered and rel

Global consumption of asphalt is forecast to rise 4.1% annually from a 2010 base to 119.5million tonnes in 2015, according to a new leading market research firm study. The volume predicted in World Asphalt, a new study from The Freedonia Group based in Cleveland, the United States, is equivalent to 725million barrels of primary asphalt. High petroleum prices combined with economic weakness and declining construction activity is said by Freedonia to have resulted in a significant drop in consumption in

The Canadian cities of Quebec and Montreal are to take part in a pilot study involving speed control devices. The country’s government has authorised the installation of photo radars, speedometers and other photographic speed control devices at strategic points along the municipal road network of both major cities. Details of the pilot project will be presented to the National Assembly by Quebec's Transport Minister, Pierre Moreau. There are currently around 15 photographic speed control devices in op

The UK’s road markings are said to be vanishing rapidly, according to a new survey by a leading highways organisation. A snapshot survey of nearly 500 miles by the Road Safety Markings Association (RMSA) revealed that well over half of white lines in Scotland and Wales are almost non-existent, and England’s fare little better. On average, the RSMA survey found that 50.6% of the UK’s surveyed road markings are barely visible. And almost a quarter (23%) of roads are classified as needing ‘emergency repa

The authorities in the African nation of Angola intend to rebuild some 3,000km of roads in the east of the country. This plan forms part of the Programme of Public Investments being set out by the Angolan National Roads Institute (INEA). The aim is to improve connectivity between the provinces of Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul and Moxico and the rest of Angola. The top priority project will be the upgrade of a series of stretches of National Road 180. The INEA is also keen to carry out a programme of maintenance an

Ultra Plant International (UPI) has finalised a new French dealership agreement with Terre Pro during INTERMAT. The company, which manufactures trommel screeners for recycling applications, is excited about its commercial opportunities in France. “We focus on the small and medium level business user,” said firm sales and marketing manager Michael McMenamin.