Road Structures

Melbourne’s major tolled highway project is due to open to traffic shortly, some three months earlier than originally anticipated. The CityLink project has been a major one for Victoria State and has added new lanes for the route along a length of 30km. Carrying around 210,000 vehicles/day, the CityLink route handles the highest levels of any traffic route in Melbourne. The addition of the new lanes on the route has formed part of the major Tulla Widening Project by VicRoads to improve road connections in V

Tunnelling equipment from Chinese firm XCMG has played an important role in a project in Montenegro. The work was carried out by contractor CCCC Tunnel Engineering Company and involved the excavation of the Jabuka Tunnel Works. This link forms part of the North-South Expressway of Montenegro and was completed on schedule recently. The link is of note as it is the first-ever expressway in Montenegro. Due to the country’s hills, a stretch of tunnel was a necessity.

Plans have been unveiled in China for a new mega highway project. A 452km link will is envisaged that will run from Panzhihua to Yibin New City in Sichuan. Because of the complex geography of the area, the highway will feature a total of 132 tunnels, which will measure 238km in all. The predicted cost of the highway is US$13.44 billion. The tunnels are a major reason for the high price of the project as they will increase the complexity of the work.

Blastcrete Equipment Company says that its novel Mine Mate machine can be used to mix and pump concrete for use in tunnel sealing and stabilisation, grouting and other shotcrete applications. The Mine Mate unit is said to boost safety in tunnelling and suits duties where and when ready-mix concrete is not an option. Featuring Blastcrete’s X-10 high-pressure swing tube pump, the Mine Mate is said to be productive, reliable, easy to operate and maintain.

New developments in tunnelling technologies offer contractors greater efficiencies when constructing new bores. Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are widely being used in major projects such as the Brenner Base Tunnel in the Austrian Alps. Full face TBMs are highly sophisticated machines featuring a rotating drilling head, which removes the material, and, depending on the type of construction, secures the excavated tunnel with shotcrete, rock bolts and wire mesh or prefabricated segments of reinforced concrete.

Road rebuilding work will be carried out on major road links in Angola’s capital Luanda. The projects are worth US$125.46 million in all and have been approved by the Government of Angola. One contract worth $78.4 million will be handled by the Portuguese contractor Mota Engil and involves repairs and improvements to roads in and around the city.

The tender process will remain open for nine major highway projects in India until the 9th January 2018. These are all for national highway projects, with the work being managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The roads will measure a total of 700km and will be constructed in Andra Pradesh State and Gujarat State. These new tolled highways will be constructed and operated under the build-operate-transfer system.

In Ecuador plans are being drawn up for a new bridge connecting Duran with the port city of Guayaquil. The bridge will span the Guayas River and is expected to cost US$800 million to build. The project had been proposed by the former administration but stalled and has now been revived by the current administration. The link would provide a new connection for Highway 40, cutting journey times considerably. The planned location for the new bridge has not so far been clarified.

Construction of the new highway in India connecting Mumbai with Nagpur will commence in early 2018. The highway will be one of the largest construction projects in India as it will measure 701km long, running through 10 districts. It will cost US$7.09 billion to construct, with $5.4 billion of the funding necessary being provided in the shape of a loan from South Korea. The work is expected to take 36 months to carry out with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corp (MSRDC) managing the project.