News

South Korea intends to boost road safety by tackling a key issue, drowsy driving. The country’s Transport Ministry has prioritised addressing tired driving following a series of crashes and road fatalities. Bus firms in the capital Seoul as well as Incheon and Gyeonggi Province are being required to install safety equipment during 2017, including lane departure warning and forward collision warning systems. The Transport Ministry also wants to make automatic braking technology a requirement for coaches, van

India’s road safety problem continues to worsen. This has been revealed by new data from the Road Transport and Highways Ministry. The country’s road crash rate increased 4% over the last three years, according to the Road Transport and Highways Ministry. India has around 400,000 road crashes/ year while around 150,000 people are killed on the country’s roads. The problem is worsening as India’s vehicle population is also growing, increasing in size by 22% over the last three years. The news is a cause for

Argentina intends to develop its road network with the construction of new highways. These projects will be handled under the PPP model, with international investment being encouraged by the Argentinian Government. A series of tenders will open during October 2017 while construction work on the projects is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2018. The nine projects going to tender will be worth a total of US$5.61 billion, although additional works may be announced in due course.

Construction work on a new highway connection from the Serbian border to the Kosovan capital of Pristina will commence in 2018. The highway will run from Nis on the border to Pristina and is expected to cost around €200 million to construct. Funding for the project has yet to be finalised though the European Investment Bank (EIB) may well play a role in providing financing.

Bidding has been strong for a major tunnel project in India. The project, to construct the Zojila Tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir, is expected to cost in the order of US$1.56 billion. A low bid for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Zojila tunnel project was received from IL&FS Transportation Networks (ITNL). Other bids came from Reliance Infrastructure, Jaiprakash Associates, and Larsen & Toubro. The bidding process for the project has been managed by India’s National Highways &

Work is underway for two key tunnel sections on Serbia’s section of the Corridor 10 project, which forms the country’s stretch of the E-75 highway route. The 1.8km Manajle Tunnel is the longest of several to be built for the Corridor 10 project and features twin tubes that run between 30 and 35m apart. The Predajane Tunnel is 1.1km long, again with twin tubes and in its case, these run from 35-65m apart. A Bulgarian contractor, Consortium Alliance X, is building the Manajle Tunnel, with the work valued at a

Construction has commenced on a contract to build a new 27km road link in South Korea. The road will connect the northern and southern regions of South Korea’s Saemanguem area. The work is costing US$813 million and is being carried out in two stages. The first stage of the project should be complete by 2022.

Work is progressing on the major Temburong Bridge project in Brunei. This bridge will measure nearly 12km in length, with the work being handled by a series of contractors. Both the Chinese contractor China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited (CSCEC) and the South Korean firm Daelim Industrial are involved in the project. Work being carried out also includes the construction of two viaducts measuring 13.4km. The link is expected to open to traffic in 2019.

The Italian contractor CMC Di Ravenna (CMC) will handle a series of road upgrades in Zambia. In all the Italian company will repair, improve and upgraded 292km of roads. Asphalt surfacing will be laid on the Kabwe to Piccadilly Circus and Mpula to Mansansa roads in Central Province. The project includes upgrades to 20km of urban roads in Mkushi and Kabwe. The Zambian Government of Zambia awarded the contract to CMC through the country’s Road Development Authority (RDA).

Global US infrastructure firm Jacobs Engineering Group and one of its main rivals, CH2M, are to merge under a US$3.27 billion deal. In a written statement, Jacobs said it will acquire all of the outstanding shares of CH2M in a cash and stock transaction, including around $416 million of CH2M debt. CH2M had global revenue in the past 12 months of around $4.4 billion and about 20,000 employees. Its contracts are in the water, transportation, environmental and nuclear sectors.

German diesel engine maker DEUTZ is reporting strong half-year results, which it says will help the firm to invest in research and development into future powertrain solutions. The company says it has seen a marked increase in new orders and revenue as well as a significant improvement in free cash flow, while it has also benefited substantially from the sale of its former manufacturing site in Cologne. The company says that new orders in the DEUTZ Group increased by 18.6% to €803 million for the half-year,

German diesel engine maker DEUTZ is reporting strong half-year results, which it says will help the firm to invest in research and development into future powertrain solutions. The company says it has seen a marked increase in new orders and revenue as well as a significant improvement in free cash flow, while it has also benefited substantially from the sale of its former manufacturing site in Cologne. The company says that new orders in the DEUTZ Group increased by 18.6% to €803 million for the half-year,

On Aug 1st 2017, it was 10 years since the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis collapsed. The bridge had been classified as structurally deficient and was undergoing repair at the time. However the repairs focussed on the decking rather than the structure, with the additional weight of the extra asphalt layers and the construction machinery parked adding to the total load and contributing to the collapse.