European Union

Slovakia’s transport minister said he will do everything possible to finish on time a new bridge connecting Komano with the Hungarian town of Komarom. Construction started last year on the €117 million bridge over the Danube River between the Hungarian town of Komarom and the Slovak town of Komarno. Around 85% of the cost of the bridge - designed by Hungarian engineering firm Pont-Terv - will be covered by European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. Completion is planned for winter 2019. Transport m

A pan-European research project is investigating the use of electro-fragmentation to help recycle fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC). Increasingly used in civil applications such as tunnels and bridge decks, FRC can be challenging to recycle because of the difficulty in separating the tiny fibres from the concrete material. “Most of the research into FRC is about the formulation or the application of the material,” said Kathy Bru, a process engineer at research organisation BRGM. “We are looking ahead 20 or 3

The European Union will fund €265 million for construction of the last section of the M4 motorway, linking Budapest, Hungary with the Romanian border. The money will come from the EU’s Cohesion Fund that targets projects designed to boost local and regional economies and promote tourism. The link's starting point is at the junction where the M35 motorway, which connects Berettyóújfalu and Debrecen.

Halving the number of deaths on Europe’s roads by 2020 is not likely to be achieved, according to the European Transport Safety Council. The 28 members of the European Union reduced the number of road deaths by 20% from 2010-2017, far less than the 38% cut needed to stay on course to meet the 2020 target. The European Commission has just published data showing that deaths on EU roads fell by only 2% last year, following a similar decrease in 2016 and a 1% increase in 2015. “For four years in a row, the

European construction sales grew by 15% in 2017, according to the Annual Economic Report 2018* from the CECE - Committee for European Construction Equipment. After a very strong first quarter, growth slowed down in the second quarter, before taking off again in Q3 and Q4. Current levels of sales are on par with the levels seen in 2006 and 2008, but the industry is still 20% below the 2007 peak.

Almost €790 million will be allocated from the Cohesion Fund for three road projects which improve the country's communication with Germany and other Western and Eastern European countries. Around €270 million will be for the Garwolin-to-Kurow S17 dual carriageway, another €125 million to build a stretch of the S6 dual carriageway between Goleniow and Kielp and €390 million for the S2 on the outskirts of Warsaw.

Children are at serious risk on Europe’s road network. This is the finding of a new report from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). According to the ETSC’s analysis of crash data, more than 8,000 children aged 0-14 years have been killed in road traffic collisions over the last 10 years in the European Union. Half of the children killed were travelling in cars, a third were walking and 13% were cycling, with one in every 13 child deaths in the European Union being the result of a road collision.

There have been calls for mandatory alcohol interlocks in vans, lorries and buses across the EU. This follows the publishing of a new report which shows that more than 5000 deaths/year in the EU are still caused by drink-driving. As a result, member States have been asked to increase enforcement and introduce rehabilitation programmes for drink-driving offenders. The devices should be fitted in all new professional vehicles and also retrofitted to cars used by repeat drink-driving offenders, according to

Construction has started on the €117 million bridge over the Danube River between the Hungarian town of Komarom and the Slovak town of Komarno. Around 85% of the cost will be covered by European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. Completion is planned for winter 2019. Last summer it was announced that the Hungarian companies Hidepito and Meszaros es Meszaros had won the tender for the 600m bridge but with a price tag of just over €91 million, according to Hungarian media. It was also reported at the time

An Italian joint venture has won the construction contract for Denmark’s replacement 4km-long road and rail Storstrom Bridge. The Danish Road Directorate – Vejdirektoratet - awarded the work to contractors Itinera, Condotte and Grandi Lavori Fincosit along with bridge design consultant Seteco Ingegneria as a subcontractor. Estimated cost is around €280 million for the 26m-wide single-support cable-stay structure. The European Union will subsidise the work to around €15 million.