Road Structures

Plans to upgrade the Vilnius to Utena highway in Lithuania will now go ahead following the securing of a loan to help pay for the project. The €40 million loan is being sourced from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The loan will be for a period for 12 years, with guarantees being provided by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). In all, the work to upgrade the 72.15km A14 route between capital Vilnius and Utena will cost close to €91 million, with the Lithuania Road Administration (LRA) pla

Financing has been found to fund road construction work in Germany. In all some €2.1 billion has been sourced by the German Government to help pay for 24 road upgrade and construction projects in the country. Of this funding stream some €314 million is being utilised by the southern German state of Bavaria. The road authorities in Bavaria plan to use the financial resources to pay for upgrades to two stretches of Autobahn and five sections of Bundestrasse.

Spain is planning to improve the V-30 highway route in the city of Valencia. The highway runs from the port in the south west of the city and links with the industrial zone located to the north east of the city. The route also provides an important connection to the city’s airport, which is located in between the A-3 and V30 highways. The work has an estimated cost of €145 million and is intended to increase capacity, with the plans being drawn up by the Ministry of Development.

Major plans to upgrade Sri Lanka’s transportation network are being developed. The plans call for upgrades to roads, rail and port facilities right across the country, in a bid to boost the economy. Assistance in preparing the improvement plans for roads, rail links and port facilities is being provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The focus will be on improving transport links both between and within the country’s major towns and cities. One of the priority projects so far identified is for a new r

The tender process is opening for the Nairobi-Mombasa highway project in Kenya. The plan calls for the existing route to be widened from two lanes at present to six lanes, with three in either direction. This will help boost capacity on the busy route between capital Nairobi and the main port of Mombasa, aiding trade and transport for Kenya as well as its neighbours. The Kenyan Government intends for the highway project to be carried out under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. Should all go to pla

Two of Egypt’s largest construction firms will carry out work on a new tunnel link under the Suez Canal. Arab Contractors and Orascom will build the tunnel connection, with twin tubes for motor vehicles and a third link for rail, with the work due for completion in 2018. The work is expected to cost in excess of US$2 billion, although the share of the deal between the two firms has not been revealed. The work forms part of the Suez Canal Corridor Area Project, which was first announced in 2014 and is intend

Further delays have hit the project to build the La Linea Road Tunnel in Colombia. As a result the tunnel will not be open to traffic until the first half of 2018. This is the latest in a series of delays that have held back the opening of the tunnel. Previous delays have been caused by the discovery of geological conditions that were far more challenging than originally expected as well as problems over insurance cover for the construction firms. When open to traffic the new link will stretch 8.6km and wil

Contractor China Railway Group (CREC) will carry out a major highway project in the Chinese province of Shaanxi. The project is for a 119km stretch of highway worth some US$1.96 billion in all. The project is being handled under the PPP model and will include the 39 month construction phase as well as the 30 year contract for operation. The new route will link Suide county with Yanchuan county.