News

The Albanian Government has reduced its estimate for the cost of the new road link between capital Tirana and Elbasan. This $110 million reduction sees the project now costing an expected $290 million, instead of the $400 million originally forecast.

The Moroccan Government is planning to increase its investment in infrastructure. Rural road and highway development projects are being planned and by 2015 the Moroccan Government wants the new network to extend to 15,000km.

The Turkish Government is planning to restart the tender process for the third Bosphorus Bridge project in April. This will be the second tender process for the project, with the first having been cancelled on January 10th of this year due to a lack of bidders.

The authorities in Australia are releasing data showing an improvement in road safety in the country, with road deaths continuing to fall.

The authorities in Brazil have been facing problems with the expropriation of land needed for new road projects. This is a key issue for new roads planned for the 2014 Football World Cup and is affecting local governments and county councils.

The Malaysian Government is giving its approval for a new expressway project. The road link will be built by West Coast Expressway (WCE) and is expected to cost in the order of US$2.32 billion.

Work on a new bridge spanning the Yangtze River in China is now underway. The Wangdong Yangtze River Bridge project is expected to cost US$758.6 million to construct.

Concern has been expressed in Austria over the potential costs of upgrading the country’s road network to cope with 60tonne trucks measuring up to 25.5m long. The introduction of these massive ‘gigaliners’ has been proposed across the EC. But Austrian highway operator Asfinag has said that upgrading the country’s roads, highways, bridges and tunnels to make them suitable for gigaliners would cost some €5.4 billion. Asfinag has also expressed its concern over the safety issues surrounding these vehicles due

Motorbike safety has been set as a priority in Colombia, which has identified key risk factors for the country’s many motorcycle riders. Some 4.5 million people use motorcycles/day for transport in the country, according to official studies. To improve safety, plans are being considered by the country’s Transport Ministry for motorcycle only lanes. A pilot will be carried out in Cauca Valley shortly. Motorcycle dealers supply a helmet along with each motorbike they sell.

Indonesia has a population of 238 million, a gross domestic product of US$720 billion (2010) and is one of the world's 20 largest economies. The building industry is booming and in the raw materials sector major investment is scheduled for the medium term. “All all of which are good reasons why bauma should focus more closely on this economic region and the exciting opportunities it offers for the future,” says Messe München International (MMI), organiser of bauma 2013, to be held in Munich, Germany, from 1