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A loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) worth US$271.3 million will help pay for the construction of road stretches between Kurty and Burylbaytal as well as Uzynagash and Otar. Kazakhstan's state budget will provide a further $47.9 million for the works, with the road sections measuring 85km and 96km respectively and due for completion in 2021.

A key transport conference is being held in Cologne, Germany with sessions on 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th October 2017. A series of events is planned for the whole week. On Monday 23rd October, the whole day will be for the EC Collaboration Innovation Days final event. On Tuesday 24th October, the day will be taken up by the Infravation Scientific Panel and Project Coordinators meeting. On Wednesday 25th October, the morning will be for the H2020 FOX project final conference.

Cambodia’s crash rate is a cause for concern due to its high casualty problem. There were 2,731 serious crashes between January and September 2017 in Cambodia. These resulted in 1,357 road deaths and 4,222 serious injuries according to a report from Cambodia’s Traffic Police and Public Order Department. The two key causes of crashes in Cambodia were from drink driving and speeding according to the report.

Ownership of the Power Curbers and Power Pavers business making concrete slipformers has now changed hands, for an undisclosed sum. Power Curbers was established by the Messinger family and Dyke Messinger will remain in charge of the company for the foreseeable future, maintaining its corporate direction. The business was acquired in a private deal between the Cornwell and Messinger families as an investment for the future by the Cornwell family, which is also local to the Power Curbers facility in the US.

Vietnam is planning to construct a new expressway in Hoa Binh and Son La provinces in the north of the country. The project is expected to cost US$2.21 billion and will be carried out in two stages under the PPP model. The route runs of 189.5km, with an 85.4km stretch from Hoa Binh to Moc Chau due for completion in 2020. A further 104.1km section will be built later.

Bolivia’s new highway will provide better access into mountain areas – Mauro Nogarin writes At the beginning of 2015, work began on the construction and paving for the Tupiza - Atocha - Uyuni highway project. The route is located in Bolivia’s Potosí department: it is 189m in length and forms part of the Southwest Basic Road Network (RVF) of Bolivia. The completion of this important route is requiring funding worth US$150 million, of which 72% is being delivered through loans from the European Investment

A major road project in Sri Lanka will improve connectivity and will benefit from financing supplied by the World Bank. A loan worth US$125 million from the World Bank will help with funding for the road connecting Ja-Ela and Chilaw. The project for National Road A003 will also utilise a performance-related structure for the contractors carrying out the work. The firms working on the project will be paid on the quality of their performance rather than by the quantity of work carried out. It is not clear how

Norway’s road safety levels continue to improve for 2017. This maintains the country’s reputation as one of the safest in the world for road travel. The latest data from the Norwegian Public Road Administration (Statens vegvesen) reveal that fatal crashes dropped for 2017.

Foreign investors are playing a major role in funding work to develop Guatemala’s road infrastructure. For 2018, 74 of the projects being planned in Guatemala will be funded through foreign sources. However in all the Guatemalan Government has planned some 2.312 projects in all in its budget for 2018. Some US$131.85 million will be aimed at road works. Four projects are being planned to develop the road link connecting Alta Verapaz and Quiche. Another major road project being planned is for the CA-9 highway

Plans are being drawn up in Armenia for the new North-South Highway project.

Plans are being drawn up in Armenia for the new North-South Highway project. Measuring some 556km in all, the project is expected to cost in excess of US$2 billion to construct, although there it is possible that the final pricetag will be somewhat higher. The country's Ministry of Transport says that the southern section of the highway between Artashat and Megri will cost $1.5 billion to build alone.

Bentley Systems introducing new software solutions

Bentley Systems introducing new software solutions