Road Structures

Plans are now in hand in New Zealand for a series of road projects in Tauranga. The New Zealand Government of has plans to spend some US$356.36 million (NZ$520 million) on a number of high priority road projects in Tauranga.

A second movable scaffold system (MSS) is on its way from China to the UK town of Halton, as part of the Mersey Gateway Project, a toll bridge over the Mersey River in England. The machine will be used to build the south elevated approach viaduct that will connect the main road network in the town of Runcorn to the Mersey Gateway Bridge, now under construction.

A major Autobahn widening project is planned in Germany for the busy A59 link near Duisburg. This Autobahn currently has four lanes but suffers heavy congestion at peak periods, with frequent delays and jams occurring. As a result, the stretch of the route will be widened to six lanes. The existing Berliner Bridge will also have to be demolished and rebuilt as it will be too narrow for the much wider Autobahn.

Bidding for Paraguay’s route II and route VII Ypacarai-Pastoreo road expansion project has been postponed. Instead Paraguay’s Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC) says that the bidding will commence on 29th June 2016. This delay follows requests by some participants in this process. However, this is the fourth time that the opening of the bidding for the project has been delayed.

The Colombian Government is investing in road infrastructure development, with a large portion of the budget being directed to Bogota. The road infrastructure programme includes 22 projects that will help cut chronic congestion in Colombian capital Bogota. Construction works for Avenida Longitudinal de Occidente (ALO) road expansion are expected to start in the first half of 2016. These will run from the Mondonedo intersection to Boyaca Avenue, in the southern part of the city. The budget for this project i

Morocco is planning a new infrastructure programme. The country’s Ministry of Equipment, Transport and Logistics is introducing a new tender scheme for a study that will be used to establish the national road infrastructure scheme (Snir) by 2035.

Plans are afoot in Tasmania for a new bridge project. The New Bridgewater Bridge is expected to cost US$413.2 million (A$535 million). The Tasmanian Infrastructure Ministry has unveiled the plans for the project. Due to its cost, Federal funding will be likely to be required, although Tasmania would provide around 20% of the pricetag from its own budget. However the proposal is around $232 million less than the previous concept design put forward for the project. The new design would feature four lanes for