Road Structures

Plans are in hand for a new road tunnel project at Kunming City in China’s Yunnan Province. The Kunming Transportation Bureau has signed a deal with Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co for the underwater tunnel and expressway project, which is worth US$1.31 billion. The project will be constructed on a build-operate-transfer basis. The new link will have a designed speed of 80km/h for the underground section and 100km/h for the sections on surface. The 25km project has been approved by the provincial development

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's (EBRD) board of directors has approved a US$260.56m loan for the construction of the central section of the Western High-Speed Diameter (WHSD) in St Petersburg by 2014. Magistral Severnoy Stolitsy (MSS) consortium must invest at least ROUBLE82.86billion (US$2.61billion) in the 11.5km stretch of mostly eight-lane motorway.

The official reopening of a bridge badly damaged in the Cumbria floods has taken place. Bouthrey bridge, just off the A5084 between Water Yeat and Nibthwaite in South Lakeland, was severely damaged by the some of the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in England in November 2009. A temporary bridge was constructed as an interim measure and work began on repairing the main bridge.

Long An province in Vietnam will see US$2.77billion spent on constructing and improving its inner waterway and road infrastructure over the next eight years. The provincial peoples’ committee (PPC) revealed that the major capital project will include the construction of bridges and roads linking central areas and towns. The new roads will stretch around 400km and new dredge waterways will span 600km on the Chanh, Thu Thua, Bac Dong and Tra Cu canals by 2015. Small wharves and Long An Port will also be estab

In Taiwan Hua Chi Construction will build the planned Kinmen Bridge. This 5.4km structure will connect Lesser Kinmen with Greater Kinmen and is due for completion in 2016. Construction work will commence in May 2012. The contractor’s winning bid was for US222.2 million. The details of the project have been released by the National Expressway Engineering Bureau.