Road Structures

Canada’s Alberta province is considering a US$1.2 billion upgrade to its High Load Corridor that recently saw transportation of an 820 tonne petrochemical pipe. The 96m long tower – equivalent to a football pitch in length and about two lanes wide - was made in the capital city Edmonton, loaded onto a special trucking unit and driven the 38km to Fort Saskatchewan, mostly along provincial Highway 14 and then 21. The journey took four days and the tower, a polypropylene-propane splitter - will be instal

Concern has been expressed in Colombia at potential traffic congestion around the new Tunel de Oriente in Antioquia. Existing roads in Baltimore in Medellin and Sajonia in Rionegro are thought to face potential traffic issues once the tunnel opens, as they have not yet been upgraded. The authorities in Rio negro have launched plans to upgrade 29km of link roads for the tunnel. However further works will be required. Some new bridges will also be constructed to help traffic flow. Meanwhile work is starting

Work to the third section of Bangkok’s expressway project is being planned in Thailand. A section of the new expressway will use existing pillars on Prasert Manoonkij Road, constructed originally for a project that was subsequently abandoned in 1994. The new expressway section will connect the Kasetsart intersection with Nawamin Road. It will also connect with the Bang Yai intersection. The work is being carried out in two phases. The first will stretch 12.2km and will connect with Bangkok’s Outer Ring Road

UAE-based crane service provider Al Faris dispatched a team to Hamriyah, to lift three 72m-long, 130tonne spud legs from a barge. The job needed a powerful and precise crane and a Demag CC 3800-1 proved to be a highly suitable machine for the project. The unit first had to be transported to the worksite. The company’s own lowbed trailers needed a good ten hours to complete the 82km journey from the Al Faris location in Dubai Industrial City to the worksite. Al Faris’ own all-terrain cranes were used in ord

Six major highway projects are planned to boost transport connections in India’s Rajasthan State and are worth a total of US$726.2 million. Work is now commencing on three of the new National Highway routes and these projects are worth $236 million. Work is planned to start in due course on the remaining three National Highway routes, with these projects worth $490.2 million.

Construction of the Canal Seco highway in Honduras, which links the country’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts, still has to be completed.

Two new Potain MDT 259 J12 CCS tower cranes are helping construct a 102,000m2 new complex in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The Masdar Institute Neighborhood project is being developed by Abu Dhabi Future Energy (Masdar) and Mubadala Development. Contractor Six Construct opted for the tower cranes for their capacity, and the machines were supplied through NFT, Potain’s Abu Dhabi-based distribution partner. The MDT 259 J12 has a maximum capacity of 12tonnes and a maximum tip capacity of 2.9tonnes. It also features a ma

A new highway connection between Serbia and Bosnia has been awarded to a Turkish contractor. The €250 million project will be carried out by the Turkish firm, Tasyapi. The project will see a new highway connecting Belgrade with Sarajevo in Bosnia. Building the new highway will improve transport connections between the two cities, reducing journey time and boosting both capacity and safety.

A new programme of road development in Moscow will see around 500km of roads being built by 2023. In addition, the programme will see work on 100 transport infrastructure projects and 50 pedestrian crossings. This will continue the programme that has seen around 100km of roads being built in Moscow each year since 2015. The plans have seen an increase in road works. During 2018, 127km of roads were built.

In the Philippines, a proposal has been made for the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) to be extended. The US$441.6 million project is for a 59.4km extension to the TPLEx route. The proposal has been put forward by San Miguel Corp (SMC). The highway extension would help improve transportation to the north of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The work would extend the route to San Juan from Rosario. The work would be carried out in three stages, with one 18.4km section between San Juan and