Search

All around the world, vehicle numbers are growing fast and existing roads are seeing increasing congestion. This rapid increase in vehicle ownership is particularly acute in the developing world. Reductions in actual vehicle purchase costs have resulted in an explosion in vehicle numbers using the roads. In the past, governments were able to fund road expansion programmes from their own sources. The most ambitious of these came when the US Government commenced construction of the Interstate system in 1956,

Ethiopia’s cement industry has enjoyed substantial growth in the past decade. However, challenges linked to the government’s investment policy could erode these gains, as Shem Oirere reports With nearly 16.5 million tonnes of cement capacity and 10% average growth in annual consumption, Ethiopia is among the top cement producers in sub-Saharan Africa. Only Nigeria and South Africa rival it.

LiuGong is investing hard in Europe, determined to be seen as a global player whose products are “made in Europe, tested in Europe and supported in Europe.” Along with new European headquarters based in Warsaw, LiuGong is also opening up a new European production line and a new continent-wide parts distribution centre at its Dressta manufacturing centre in Stalowa Wola. Geoff Hadwick reports

A new highway upgrade project has been awarded in India’s Madhya Pradesh. The US$115 million project will see the upgrade of a 30km stretch of the NH-7 route. The project was awarded by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The contract will be handled by Dilip Buildcon (DBL).

Reducing the death and injury toll on the world's roads is a key priority. It is estimated that every year, 1.25 million people die on the world’s roads. With motorisation and urbanisation to increase in many parts of the developing world in the years to come, there is every likelihood that this number could rise. Can you explain why so many lives are needlessly lost every year on our roads and why greater action isn’t being taken to address this?

Louis Berger has been awarded the management contract for the Versova-Bandra Sea Link project in India. The US$17 million project management services deal was awarded to the firm by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). The construction of the Versova-Bandra Sea Link (VBSL) is estimated to cost some $1 billion and will take 54 months to complete. “We are honored to play a major role in one of the largest infrastructure projects — not just in Mumbai, but in India,” said Kshitish

By integrating its forging operations in its components business area thyssenkrupp believes it has established one of the world’s biggest companies for this industry segment. The company has linked its operations at its sites in Europe, North and South America, India and China. The new business unit thyssenkrupp Forged Technologies has around 7,000 employees at 18 production sites and a broad distribution network in over 70 countries. The business unit has sales of over €1 billion and operates over 50

A new bridge is being built between Bangladesh and India. The bridge will span the Feni River and will provide an improved transport link between Ramgarh in Bangladesh and Chittagong in India. Piling work is already being carried out for the bridge supports and the project should be complete by the second quarter of 2020. Funding is being provided by the Indian Government.

India is setting out plans for major road development works in the 2018-2019 period. Highway building projects worth a total of US$9.25 billion are being planned. The work is being planned by India’s National Highways Authority (NHAI). Some 10,000km of national highways will be built in the time period. In all contracts for 25,000km of roads will be offered for tender.

John Deere’s recent acquisition of the Wirtgen Group was driven by the way in which two leading equipment manufacturers could come together with no product overlap and target strong investment growth in the world’s highways sector

The WRM programme has taken shape with details to be completed by early September, with the receipt of full papers from the authors, due by 31st July 2017. There is considerable progress with regard to the Global Transport Ministers’ Meeting, with confirmations of participation received from various European and African nations. The ministers will be accompanied by small delegations. The IRF Geneva office is looking forward to sharing more detailed information regarding the programme in the next couple of

IRF Geneva was one of the key supporting organisations of the World Transport Convention (WTC 2017) held on 4th-6th June 2017 in Beijing, China. Hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and organised by China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS) the convention had as its theme “Green and Integrated Development through Innovations” and attracted 1,820 papers from all over the world and 5,000 delegates. Kiran Kapila, IRF chairman, delivered a keynote address in the opening

CPB Contractors has achieved contractual close on Melbourne’s planned 5km West Gate Tunnel, originally called the Western Distributor. The road will link the West Gate Freeway at Yarraville, a suburb of Melbourne, with the tolled CityLink road network at Docklands via a tunnel beneath Yarraville.

The recent news that Volvo will stop manufacturing cars powered purely by internal combustion engines and build only electric vehicles or hybrids by 2019 is the most significant announcement in the automotive sector for some years. The market for electric vehicles (EVs) has been growing over time, aided by improvements in battery technology that have boosted range and performance. Nissan Renault and Tesla have made particular gains, the former by developing sophisticated EVs that sit alongside its

A new report highlights the growth for sales of construction machines into the Indian market. This market did see a drop in the 2014-2015 period but has been growing quickly since 2016. In 2016 52,000 construction machines were sold in India, an increase of 37% over the previous year, according to the report by Off-Highway Research. The report also suggests sales of construction machines will continue to grow for the next five years in India, climbing by as much as 50% to hit an impressive 70,000 units in

The contract has been awarded for a 7.8km sea bridge across the Mumbai Bay in India. A joint venture team comprising Daewoo E&C and Tata Projects will carry out the design and construction for the US$865.2 million Mumbai Trans Harbour Link. The partners will also construct the Shivaji Nagar Interchange located at Navi Mumbai. Once the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link is complete, it will be India’s biggest sea-bridge.

A Malaysian contractor will carry out a highway project worth US$357.1 million in India. The project is for the construction of the new National Highway 52 and will be carried out by IJM Corp (IJM). The stretch will connect Solapur in Karnataka State with Bijapur in Maharashtra State. The work involves widening and improving the existing two lane route so that it will have two lanes in either direction.

Pörner Group recently handed over to India’s IOCL a Biturox plant that has the annual capacity to supply bitumen for more than 1,000km of road. Pörner and IOCL (Indian Oil Company Limited) commissioned the Biturox bitumen plant located at IOCL’s Barauni Refinery near Patna in eastern India. This is the 4th plant operated by IOCL based on Biturox technology. Pörner again provided the license and engineering services.

Although India’s highway development programme has been seen as a high priority for the country’s economic development, rural roads have been so far regarded as less important. However a new programme of rural road development is being set up in a bid to redress the balanace.

New technologies to make rubber modification of asphalt are under development and testing. But political will is the real key to diverting old tyres from landfill - Kristina Smith reports. A new way to introduce end-of-life tyre rubber into asphalt mixes could be the key to diverting more tyres away from landfill, according to Dr Davide Lo Presti, principal research fellow at the Nottingham Transportation Engineering Centre (NTEC) at the University of Nottingham.