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Challenging ground conditions meant a design rethink - and some engineering firsts - for California’s Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project* The Port of Long Beach on Terminal Island south of Los Angeles is the second-busiest container port in the US. It handles around 15% of all imported goods, much of it with Asia. As the Port of Long Beach was growing in importance over the past half century, the 51-year-old Gerald Desmond Bridge has faithfully been delivering thousands of daily commuters to wo

Norwegian state-owned road developer Nye Veier has announced the tendering of a 23km four-lane motorway between Roterud and Storhove along Lake Mjøsa. Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake as well as one of the deepest in all Europe is located in the southern part of the country and about 100km north of the capital Oslo. It is around 117km long and at its widest is 15km. More than 4km of the €388 million project will be a tunnel. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2021. The stretch of road is as part of

Dutch construction company Heijmans has been awarded a contract for the maintenance of motorways in Noord-Brabant province by the Dutch infrastructure and water board Rijkswaterstaat. The €13 million contract covers the A2, A50, A59 and A67 motorways including fly-overs and bridges. Work will start at the end of August. Heijmans has been involved in road building and maintenance since 1923. Last month, the company announced that effective 1 July, Bart Smolders will join as director of Heijmans Inf

The French market for earthmoving equipment remained very strong in the first quarter of this year, according to the latest data compiled by CISMA. Q1 sales rose 12% compared to the same quarter 2018 with that for compact equipment up by 14%. CISMA - the French trade association - noted that this performance is mostly due to the strength of sales to rental companies (+32%) and the good performance of non-rental sales. Sales of crawler excavators are up by 11%. Sales of wheeled loaders grew by 23% t

The Kasetsart Intersection-Nawamin Road northern expressway project in Thailand is expected to require funding worth US$457 million. Also called the N2 expressway, the 12.2km stretch of expressway will benefit from financing raised through an IPO organised by the Thailand Future Fund (TFF). The project has been delayed due to objections from the Kasetsart University over concerns at the expressway’s impact the structure of campus buildings. A number of other buildings lie close to the route and there may ha

The Czech capital Prague has cancelled a contract worth almost US$90 million to demolish old the Liben Bridge and build a replacement. Instead, it will spend nearly $22 million to renovate and strengthen the existing bridge - Libensky Most . Media reported that the bridge will have its frame replaced and will be strengthened during the renovation, following recommendations from the Czech Technical University's Klokner Institute. Renovating the bridge will likely take around two years. The Libeň Bri

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is providing a US$181.7 million loan to the Tanzanian Government. This will help pay for the construction of a ring road featuring two lanes in either direction around Dodoma City. The ring road will measure 110km and its construction is intended to reduce congestion in the city, which currently has to handle considerable through traffic. Although Dar es Salaam is Tanzania’s largest city and major port, Dodoma City has been the country’s capital since 1996.

Upgrade work is planned for an elevated highway in Sri Lanka.

A French contractor is to build 18 bridges and flyover stretches in Senegal. The deal is worth US$241.45 million.

The International engineering federation FIDIC (the International Federation of Consulting Engineers) and ITA-AITES (the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association) are jointly publishing a new form of contract for tunnelling and underground works. Called The Emerald Book, this new contract form is intended to meet developments in the fast-growing underground market sector. The new Conditions of Contract for Underground Works (The Emerald Book) is expected to be widely used. Underground cons

Eurobitume now has a new president and vice president, following the organisation’s recent Spring Meeting held in Brussels. Markus Spiegl from OMV was elected Eurobitume president while Frédérique Cointe from ExxonMobil was appointed vice president. In addition, Keith Stone from Shell was re-elected treasurer. The trio say that they will help drive the continued development of Eurobitume as the first reference for bitumen in Europe, and also champion the efficient, effective and safe use of refined bitume

A major new bridge project is now going ahead in Ethiopia, with funding being provided by the Ethiopian Government.

A new relief road project is going ahead in Russia’s capital, Moscow. The four lane relief road for the Ostafievskoe Highway in Moscow is due for completion in 2020. The 3.75km link will feature crosswalks, traffic lights and intersections and a 200m bridge section. Noise barriers will be installed along 1.2km of the route.

A group of experts from Thailand have been visiting the UK to research methods that would help boost road development. The planning and engineering team from Thailand’s Department of Rural Roads (DRR) have been holding meetings with UK counterparts about adopting a scheme similar to its Highways Authority Approval Scheme (HAPAS). The DRR has the responsibility for over 47,700km of Thailand’s 396,600km road network, upgrading paved and earth roads and delivering bridge projects. This is intended to boost so

17% to reach 3,178 units in the first quarter of 2019 compared to Q1 last year. In more detail, 3,058 of the units sold were earth-moving machines with the rest being 120 road equipment. “The growth of the Italian market in the first quarter it a very positive signal,” said Antonio Strati, councillor of Unacea, the Italian Construction Equipment Association which also has responsibility for statistics activities. “Although concerns remain over the general economic trend, we expect that the awaited

Research from the US reveals that multi-tasking drivers are at a greater risk of crashes. The information comes from US driver risk management firm Lytx, which announced new data regarding commercial driving and distraction during the National Safety Council's Distracted Driving Awareness Month, in April 2019. A minimum of nine people in the US die in crashes due to distracted driving every day. Distraction is the second leading cause of fatal truck crashes in commercial vehicle fleet. Lytx has found that 2

A range of issues are affecting road safety in Europe. A range of issues are affecting road safety in Europe. In France there is concern at the estimate of 68,000 drivers who do not hold a valid license. This represents an increase over previous years and now accounts for around 1.4% of the total number of drivers in the country, according to the data from road safety body, Prevention Routiere. As perhaps is to be expected, the crash statistics for these unlicensed drivers are worrying, with them being

A major road project in Costa Rica is now facing delays. The widening project for Route 32 is being carried out by the Chinese contractor China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC). However the land required for a significant portion of the project has not yet been secured by Costa Rica’s Ministry for Public Works and Transportation (MOPT). It is not now clear whether the road widening work will be completed within the intended schedule. So far just 10% of the work required for the whole project has so fa

Sweden’s transport administration Trafikverket has appointed Veidekke Anläggning as a temporary contractor for work on the Lovön section of the Stockholm Bypass - Förbifart Stockholm. The deal is worth around €9.6 million. The contractor will take over work started by a tender winner whose contract has been cancelled, according to Swedish media. It is expected the new contractor will be on site until the end of the year, by which time Trafikverket says it hopes to have re-tendered the remaining work.

The eight motorways taken over by the Spanish government management agency Seittsa generated nearly €37 million in profit last year, according to national media. Seittsa said the money will be used for maintenance of the formerly private motorways. Among the revenues collected was around €3.8 in tolls from vehicles on the M-12 connecting Madrid to the airport.