Road Structures

The tender process for a major new road project in Colombia is due to open shortly. The project has an estimated cost of some US$621 million and will be constructed under a public private partnership model. The 32km Mulalo-Loboguerrero road project has been approved by Colombia's National Planning Department (DNP). The Tender process is opening in October 2014, with the contracts expected to be ready by December 2014 and construction work starting in 2016 then finishing in 2021.

Work is now being carried out on a new expressway around the Chinese city of Shenzhen. This new route will form part of the Pearl River Delta expressway network and will also connect with 12 other national highways and expressways. The 76km expressway is due to open to traffic in 2018. The project is complex as it will include 12 tunnels and 82 bridges, with the overall cost estimated at US$4.35 billion.

A major programme of highway development is being seen in China's Jiangxi Province. The rate of highway construction is being increased and the authorities are aiming to boost the network to a total of 5,000km by the end of 2015 and 6,000km by the end of 2016. At present there are six major highway projects underway in Jiangxi Province, with the total cost of these estimated at US$4.53 billion. The six major highway projects have a total length of 395km and include the Shangrao-Wannian, Xiushui-Pingjiang (J

Serbia’s Ministry of Construction has plans to rebuild and upgrade some 1,000km of roads between 2014 and 2018. The work is expected to cost €300 million. Serbia’s Government is looking to the EU for the ratification of a previously discussed loan worth €300 million. This loan has been approved by the World Bank, the EBRD and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The money will be used to fund road rebuilding work, with one of the first projects to tackle being the improvement of the Zrenjanin-Zabalj route.

The authorities in Tasmania are planning a major programme of road rebuilding work that will boost transport links. Worth some US$684.4 million (A$733 million) the budget includes the $184 million (A$197 million) required to carry out the planned upgrade to the Midland Highway. A further $3 million (A$3.2 million) will be used to establish an independent body called Infrastructure Tasmania that will provide expert advice on the infrastructure needs of the state such as ports and major roads.

A number of tower cranes have helped complete the Chishi Grand Bridge project in China. Six Potain tower cranes were used to build two 280m tall bridge pylons, high in the clouds above the mountains of southern China. The cranes spent 30 months building the pylons at the Chishi Grand Bridge, which will span 1.47km and carry its road deck 180m above the ground. The bridge will open at the end of 2014.

A consortium of contractors will carry out construction work on Arizona’s Red Mountain Highway project. The Pulice-Granite consortium includes Pulice, a subsidiary of Spanish firm ACS. The US$109.2 million contract involves the design and construction of a 30.4km stretch of the State Route 202, Red Mountain Highway. Two sections of the highway, which runs around the city of Phoenix, have been constructed and one remains to be built, having been subject to various delays.

The authorities in India have revealed that a series of major road projects are commencing. Plans are in hand for the new Biju Expressway project, which is costing close to US$528 million. The project will deliver a new corridor between Rourkela and Jagdalpur, connecting the four Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput districts of Nuapada, Kalahandi, Nawrangpur and Koraput with four districts of western Odisha; Sundergarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Bargarh. The first phase is for the upgrading of a 402km stretch of roa