Road Structures

European funding will pay for the reconstruction of key infrastructure links in Estonia. During 2015, the country started work on 421 projects being funded by the EU. The total value of these 421 projects was €1.082 billion. Some €108.6 million of this EU funding was used for road construction, with €45.7 million being used to rebuild the Väo-Jüri section of Talinn’s ring road.

The El Salvador Government has failed to finish its planned programme of investments in public infrastructure projects. The country has implemented just 66% of the budget it had previously allotted for infrastructure work during 2015. In all the planned budget accounted for US$682 million. The country has so far spent $206.2 million of the $1.05 billion it has targeted for its 2016 infrastructure budget.

Work has started on 2.2km Mersey Gateway’s main bridge deck as the project enters its third year of construction. The new six-lane toll bridge will link the English towns of Runcorn and Widnes and teams will begin to connect the steel support cables to the deck and upper pylons this summer. Trinity, the project’s movable scaffolding system (MSS), has cast the first 250m of the north approach viaduct and a new MSS is on its way to Halton to build the south approach viaduct. The local road network is al

The European-based technology group for construction services, Strabag, has initiated and led the first successful refinancing of an Irish motorway public-private partnership (PPP) project. In a written statement, Strabag said that the N17/N18 project between Gort and Tuam “is benefiting from improved financial market conditions while still in the construction phase”. Refinancing was successfully achieved on 27 May. Total private sector investment in this project amounts to €400 million. Strabag said

Ethiopia is planning a series of road projects as part of its Growth & Transformation Plan. These road projects are worth close to US$128 million in total, with the plans being managed by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA). Four construction companies have been awarded the contracts by the ERA. The Chinese contractor CGC Overseas Construction Group will rebuild the 60km Shambu-Backo link in a deal worth $45.7 million, providing the existing gravel road with a new asphalt surface. Local contractor Yemene Gi

Institute of Quarrying (IQ) CEO Phil James is leaving for a new role after four years in charge of the UK-based organisation. He had joined the IQ in late 2012 as joint CEO with MPQC and drew on his rare combination of quarry management experience and professional body expertise in executing his senior role. James will become the new CEO of the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) in September 2016. In his new post he plans to continue his link with the minerals industry and to combine the challenge

Contractor Balfour Beatty is to construct new truck parking facilities alongside the M20 motorway in Kent in the UK. The package of works was awarded by Highways England and the £130 million deal covers the development of the proposals during the Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) phase of the project. This deal also includes the construction of the lorry area subject to a decision to proceed from the UK Government. The £250 million truck parking area was initially announced by the UK’s Chancellor of the Ex

Paraguay is setting out plans for a series of major road development works, with this programme being planned by the country’s Ministry of Works. The Paraguayan Government says it will spend some US$1 billion on road projects in the area around Chaco, with those of highest priority being built within the next two years. The most important of the projects is the bi-oceanic corridor, which is expected to cost some $700 million to construct. The work on the bi-oceanic corridor is receiving financial support fr

New levels of efficiency and sophistication are being seen in the latest earthmoving machines coming to market - Mike Woof writes. The earthmoving equipment segment accounts for one of the largest parts of the total market for construction machines. All around the world excavators and articulated dumptrucks (ADTs) can be seen operating on construction sites. With a massive array of manufacturers offering these machines, it is no surprise that the segment is hotly contested. In developed markets firms are en

The latest report by Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak, Sustainable Worldwide Transportation at the University of Michigan, builds on their recent series of eight reports addressing public opinion, human factors, and safety-related issues concerning self-driving vehicles. An identical survey to that used in 2015 was administered. The survey was developed to examine motorists’ preferences among levels of vehicle automation, including preferences for interacting with and overall concern about riding in s