Road Structures

Plans are being made for a new link to connect Malaysia’s Penang Island with the Malaysian mainland. The Consortium Zenith Construction (CZC) won the tender process for the US$1.56 billion Penang Roads and Tunnels project, an integrated infrastructure plan that includes the new undersea tunnel. There are suggestions that a bridge would be a feasible alternative, although the tunnel link looks most likely for the project. The feasibility study for the tunnel should be complete in September 2018. Should the

A major new road connection is being planned in Indonesia. Interest has been strong in the tendering process for the Sumatra East Road crossing, according to the authorities. The project will be located in South Sumatra and is expected to cost US$154 million. The tender process is due to end in mid-August 2018, when the winner will be announced. Construction is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2019.

A new highway project is planned for Russia. The highway will connect the city of Tyumen with Tomsk. Both cities are located in Siberia, with Tyumen alongside the Jura River and Tomsk beside the Tom River. The project is expected to cost nearly US$295 million to complete and will be offered as a concession package. At present the distance from Tyumen to Tomsk is around 1,500km by road, but the new route will shorten the distance and reduce journey times between the two cities.

The tender process is opening for a major new expressway project in Bangladesh.

Work is now underway on a new road project that will improve transport around Ghana’s capital, Accra. The Chinese contractor Zhongmei Engineering Group is carrying out the work to construct the Pokuase Interchange, as well as a number of connecting roads. The interchange will feature three levels, with the work costing US$84 million and due for completion in the second quarter of 2020. The interchange is located to the north west of Accra on the N6 highway, which leads to Ghana’s second city, Kumasi.

Road widening on the Tullamarine Freeway in the Australian city of Melbourne is helping to cut congestion. The US$962 million (A$1.3 billion) project is nearly complete, but the sections finished already are now having a positive benefit for traffic flow. This has reduced journey times to and from the city’s main airport, with further benefits expected once the work on the route is completed in August 2018.

New cross-border road connections are being planned between South Korea and North Korea. The two governments have set up a joint study group to discuss new road links across the border as well as upgrades and improvements to key roads in North Korea. One road link being prioritised for improvement works is the Musan to Kaesong route. Upgrading this route would boost transport between South Korea and China, as well as between South Korea’s capital Seoul and the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.