Road Structures

Plans are now in hand for a 2.7km mile tunnel in the US to be built in the city of Seattle in Washington State.

FSP has bought the intellectual property rights for the Frangible Post System from 3M. It is now supplying the passive safety market with reinforced composite posts that will carry signs on motorways and other busy roads. The FSP product (as previously commercially developed and marketed by 3M) is designed to be strong enough to withstand turbulent weather conditions, but light and flexible enough to collapse on impact, protecting the driver and passengers and causing minimum damage to the vehicle.

Plans for a new highway connecting the African nations of Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi are gathering pace. The project is likely to cost up to US$600 million to complete and will provide a key trade route between the nations, with the economies of Malawi and Mozambique in particular need of development, while Zambia's copper mining industry will benefit from the link.Some $23 million will be required to construct the first section of the road forming the Nacala Corridor.

Major repairs are required to roads and bridges in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro State following the recent spate of flooding.

The latest survey from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association's (ARTBA) suggests a worrying trend for US road and bridge construction in 2011.