Road Structures

A new bridge project costing nearly US$756 million has been proposed for Brazil.

A contractor is now being sought for the UK’s Stonehenge Tunnel project. The work involves building a new tunnel and new stretch of dual carriageway, moving the busy A303 route away from the Stonehenge monument.

The tender process for Colombia’s Buga-Buenaventura fourth generation (4G) toll road project is being planned. The tender for the 114.1km dual carriageway is being handled in two separate stretches however. One of the road stretches will be for a 55.4km section from Buga to Loboguerrero, which is expected to cost US$359.45 million. The 58.7km stretch from Loboguerrero to Buenaventura meanwhile is expected to cost $362.75 million. The Loboguerrero to Buenaventura section of the route includes building a 19km

Indonesia is working on plans to develop its toll road network during 2019. A further 400km of new toll roads will be completed during 2019, bringing Indonesia’s total toll road length to 2,000km in all. Key toll road sections due for completion include stretches of the Jakarta Outer Ring Round 2 and the Balikpapan-Samaridan toll road. Indonesia’s Trans-Sumatra toll road is one of the country’s key projects, with some 561km of the route due to be in use by the end of 2019. The Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road

New Zealand’s Mount Messenger bypass project has attracted some controversy and opposition. The 5.2km route will cost around US$129 million (NZ$200 million) to construct and will include two bridges as well as a tunnel section. The alignment has been selected from five options as it minimise environmental damage. However there are complaints from environmentalists that the project will damage a 44ha area that includes forest and wetlands as well as posing a threat to some endangered bird life.

Building the North East Link in Melbourne, Australia, is expected to improve transport and reduce chronic congestion in the city. This will be Victoria State’s largest road building project and will cost US$11.14 billion (A$15.8 billion). The proposed alignment runs through the existing Bulleen Industrial Precinct, which will be relocated as a result.

The tender process is opening for a new road link to connect with Sydney International Airport in Australia’s New South Wales State. Called the ‘Sydney Gateway Project’ the new road link is expected to cost in the region of US$1.55 billion (A$2.2 billion) to build. The new route would improve transport connections between Paramatta, on the city’s western side, and the airport, located to the east. Building the new road connection is expected to help lower peak time congestion and journey times for drivers.

Discussions are in hand for two major bridge projects in Indonesia. The larger of the two bridges would be a 13.5km structure to connect Bangka Belitung Province with Sumatra Province. The new Selam Bangka Bridge would improve transport between Sumatra, Belitung Island and Bangka Island, boosting the tourist trade as well as agriculture and fisheries. Meanwhile a new 6.4km bridge is planned that will connect Bintan Island with Batam Island. This project is expected to cost around US$198 million, although

A well-maintained road bridge network is vital to Denmark’s economy. David Arminas caught up with Niels Pedersen, head of bridges at the Danish Road Directorate Denmark, being a country mainly of islands, relies on its bridges and tunnels to help unify the nation culturally. It also means that they are vastly more important to the economic well-being of the nation than in most other states. The World Bank has classified Denmark as a high-income economy. In 2017 it ranked 16th globally in terms of gros