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Smoking a single cigarette containing cannabis can lengthen reaction times by 17-20%, while the effects can last for up to 13 hours. That is the result of research carried out in France.

An important new bridge project is underway in the Philippines. The structure has been designed to be resistant to earthquakes and is located in Surigao del Norte province. The structure is around 85.5% complete and is being built from corrugated steel plates and will replace the Anao-aon Bridge. This previous structure was wrecked by an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter Scale, which hit the area in February 2017. Many other bridges, roads and airports will be constructed using corrugated steel plates

A new survey carried out in Latvia has highlighted the country’s problem with poor bridge condition.

Brazil’s road safety problem is improving gradually. Data provided by the national transport confederation, CNT, reveals that there were 69,206 crashes on Brazil’s federal roads during 2018. Of these, 53,963 crashes involved serious injury or death. There were 5,269 road deaths in Brazil during 2018, the lowest since 2007, when CNT began compiling the country’s road crash data. According to CNT, there has been a steady decline in road deaths and serious injuries on Brazil’s roads since 2012.

Hyundai Construction Equipment is focussing on performance and quality with its new project to establish a Reliability Assessment Centre. This research and development facility will be constructed in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do (South-Korea) in a bid to strengthen Hyundai’s quality competitiveness. The firm has held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the reliability assessment centre and a performance evaluation laboratory for finished equipment on a 40,000m² site at the Mabuk-ri Research Institute i

A cyclist was recently spotted on the UK’s busy M25 motorway pedalling along the hard shoulder in the wrong direction. Police were alerted by a CCTV operator who saw the rider as he rode past a camera. Officers quickly responded and escorted the cyclist to a place of safety after providing a few words on safety. Cycling is banned on the UK’s motorways.

A new bridge project is being planned for Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The Thu Thiem 4 Bridge will be 2.2km in length and measure 28m wide and has a projected cost of US$223 million. The bridge will span the Saigon River and connect District 2 with Tan Thuan Dong in District 7, featuring three lanes for vehicle traffic in either direction as well as pedestrian facilities. The construction of the bridge is expected to ease journey times in HCMC, which is notorious for its heavy traffic and chronic cong

The annual tunnelling conference and competition is due to take place in Miami from the 18th-20th November in Miami, Florida. The competition features eight categories and aims to identify the most important ongoing underground works and technologies that help cities change and enable habits and ways of life to evolve in order to build smart and sustainable urba

China’s Sichuan Province is working on a major programme of road development works that will help expand and improve the overall network. Worth an impressive US$26.3 billion in all, the programme includes 29 separate projects. The main focus of the works will be on eight expressways, which will extend for a total of 981km. Five of the expressways are being developed by the Sichuan Transportation Investment Group. These are for the G0615 Barkam to Jigzhi route, the Mianyang to Cangxi link, the Cangxi to Bazh

The French construction market could grow by up to 5% in 2019, up from 3.1% last year, according to a recent report. Major infrastructure projects will continue to boost activity, including the country’s motorway building programme, the Greater Paris project of improved roads and other amenities and the French ultra-high-speed broadband plan. Activity in the French public works sector in general is expected to continue to rise at a rate of 10% in 2019, noted the report by Evolis, the French constructi

The tender process is being planned for a major bridge project in Brazil.

Financing has been secured to help pay for rebuilding of the Dome to Kitase road in Ghana’s capital Accra. A US$24 million loan from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) will pay for the work. Upgrading the route will help improve transport on the northern side of Accra and develop the local economy.

Approval has been given to commence construction on two stretches of the highway connecting Moscow with Kazan.

The historic Great Ocean Road in Australia is in poor condition and in desperate need of repairs.

Norway’s landmark tunnel project is due to open at the end of 2019. The Ryfylke tunnel will be both the longest and deepest undersea road tunnel built anywhere in the world when it opens to traffic. The new link connects the city of Stavanger with Strand in the district of Ryfylke. Two other tunnels form part of the project to build the new Ryfast link. These are the Hundvåg tunnel and the Eiganes tunnel, due to open in February 2020 once finishing and testing works have been completed. The opening of all t

Nigeria is planning a series of road and bridge rehabilitation works across the country. The plans calls for 14 projects in Nigeria, including the construction of new links, improving existing routes, widening roads and building bridges. These contracts are worth over US$457 million in all and have been given approval by the country’s Federal Executive Council (FEC). The contractors to have won the tenders include CBC Global Civil & Building Construction Nigeria, China Civil Engineering Construction Corpor

A new expressway connecting the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Zhongshan is being planned. Work will commence in 2020 and the project has an estimated cost of US$3.06 billion. The route will also connect with the highway connecting Zhongshan to Shenzhen. The expressway will run between the south of Nansha and the west of Zhongshan. It is expected to open to traffic in 2024.

The Canadian province of British Columbia could put options for a Massey Tunnel replacement out to consultation late this year or early next. A statement from the BC ministry of transportation and infrastructure said the government is in discussions with various stakeholders about which options it will put out for consultation. Whatever option is chosen to replace the ageing four-lane Massey Tunnel – be it a bridge or another tunnel – it will be will be either six or eight lanes, according to the gove

A new runway surface has been constructed at Yogyakarta International Airport in Indonesia.

July saw the ceremonial sod cutting for a project to build West Africa’s biggest bitumen plant: a joint venture between Ghana’s oil company GOIL and Societe Multinationale de Bitumes (SMB) of the Ivory Coast. The project, which will cost around US$35 million according to GOIL, is in Tema Ghana. With a capacity of 8,000tonnes, it will produce AC10 and AC20 bitumen and polymer modified bitumen (PMB). Speaking at the ceremony, Ghana’s minister of energy John Peter Amewu said: “Due to the success of the PMB