Road Structures

Bridging North America will build the Gordie Howe Bridge, named after a famous Canadian ice hockey player and leading scorer A partnership including Fluor Canada and ACS Infrastructure Canada has been chosen to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Gordie Howe International Bridge project. The client, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA), announced the appointment of Bridging North America group in the Canadian city of Windsor, across the Detroit River from Detroit in the US state of Michig

Bridge repairs are being prioritised in France following a series of inspections, triggered by the recent bridge collapse in Italy. There are 23 bridges that form part of France’s national road network that require attention. In all 164 key bridges in France need work, although most of this is comparatively minor and of these 122 are the responsibility of road operators with the remaining 42 the responsibility of the French Government. Two of the bridges however are in urgent need of repairs. Increased main

Portuguese infrastructure operator Infraestruturas de Portugal has awarded Somague a €12.6 million maintenance and refurbishment contract for work on the bridge Ponte 25 de Abril. Somague is heading up a consortium that includes Sociedade de Montagens Metalomecânicas and Reparação, Consolidação e Modificação de Estruturas. The 25 de Abril, a 2.3km suspension bridge for vehicles and trains over the Tagus River, connects Portugal’s capital city Lisbon to the municipality of Almada. It was built by the A

Skanska reports that it has completed the bore and dynamiting for the Strømnes-Sprova tunnel project in the Norwegian county of Nord-Trøndelag. The nearly €40m project, which was awarded to Skanska in August last year,is for 5.4kn of new road, including both the 600m Holmvik and the 1km Strømnes tunnels. Two bridges are also being built, the 42m Holmviksbron and the 27m Eldbron. Norwegian roads authority Statens Vegvesen appointed Skanska to project which is part of an upgrade to the Dyrstad-Sprova-Ma

Traffic flow should improve between The Hague and Amsterdam in the Netherlands if tunnels are built at Wassenaar where the N44 becomes the A44 motorway. The number of vehicles that will travel through Wassenaar is expected to increase to 57,000 per day by 2030. However, only one if five vehicles are destined for Wassenaar, which has a population of around 26,000, according to a report by the Dutch civil engineering consultancy Royal HaskoningHDV,

Denmark’s Minister of Transport Ole Birk Olesen has turned the sod to officially start construction of the new 4km road and rail Storstrøm Bridge. The €549 million bridge is scheduled to open for road traffic in 2022 and for rail traffic in 2023. The project budget includes the cost for demolition of the existing bridge that opened in 1937. The 24m-wide single-support cable-stayed structure will connect the islands of Zealand to Falster and touch down on the smaller Masnedø Island.

A new expressway project is being proposed in Thailand. The project for a new expressway in Phuket is likely to cost US$425.26 million to construct. The project is being proposed under the PPP model. The aim is to an offer an improved link between tambon Kathu and Patong beach in the Phuket area. The existing Highway 4029 has a poor record for road safety. The project will include building an elevated section as well as a tunnel section.

The contract has been awarded for the construction of a bridge spanning South Africa’s Msikaba Gorge. The project is expected to cost US$110.5 million and the package of works was awarded by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL). A Portuguese and South African joint venture partnership, Concor Mota-Engil, will carry out the work, which will commence in February 2019 and is expected to take 33 months to complete. The bridge will feature a main span of some 580m, making it the longest cable-stayed

The first section of Russia’s new A181 Scandinavia highway is due to open to traffic in October 2018. However, this is 12 months later than was originally planned as the project has been subject to a number of unforeseen issues. The new link will connect St Petersburg with Ogonki and the work has been carried out by contractor VAD, costing US$148.3 million.