Road Structures

The Algerian Minister of Public Works, Amar Ghoul, has called for the swift completion of studies related to the building of a new 220km motorway linking Ténès Port in Chlef province to Tissemsilt province. Ghoul says the project is seen by the Government as key to boosting Algeria’s economy, as the motorway will open up access to cities and towns, revitalise industrial zones and relieve pressure on the saturated RN19 road between Chlef and Ténès. Large viaducts and a number of interchanges will also be co

Problem tyres played a role in nearly 15% of fatal passenger car and van accidents in Finland from 2000-2009, based on the accident database kept by the Finnish Motor Insurers' Centre. During the 2000s, passenger cars and vans have been involved in 2,647 fatal road accidents. In 393 of these, the accident was caused or at least partly caused by the installation of bad or wrong type of tyres. In some accidents, there was also found to have been problems with the tyre pressure.

A new highway in Ethiopia will provide a key link for the country’s future economic development. The 218km Modjo-Hassan highway is expected to cost US$720 million to construct. The highway will be constructed in two stages. The first section of the route will stretch 93km from Modjo to Zeway and is expected to cost $350 million to complete. The second section of the highway will be 125km long and link Zeway with Hewassa and this stretch is estimated to cost $370 million to build. However, funding for the hi

A new highway will connect Cameroon’s key cities of Doula and Yaoundé. The 215km highway will be constructed by the Chinese contractor China First Highway Engineering, with the project costing an estimated US$579 million in all. Much of the financing for the project is being provided through a $491.5 million loan from the China Exim Bank. Scet Tunisie and Louis Berger have a partnership for the $8.36 million deal for project management of the first phase of the project, the 80km section from Yaoundé to Bot

IRF chairman and mayor of Riyadh, Eng Abdullah A Almogbel, discusses the city’s massive infrastructure investment and the pressing need for this development work Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh is fast growing with a pressing need for additional transport infrastructure resulting in a massive investment programme. The oil industry has fuelled Riyadh’s rapid expansion from being a medium sized town just 100 years ago, to its status as a major city today. With the explosion in vehicle use during the 20th ce

A new panel has been created in support of the €2.28 billion (CHF 2.8 billion) plan to build a new road tunnel alongside Switzerland’s Gotthard tunnel. The panel includes Filippo Lombardi, the president of the Council of States, and two national councillors, Olivier Français and Fabio Regazzi. The new road tunnel project will see full closure of the current 30-year-old road tunnel, one of Europe’s major north-south transit routes, for two-and-a-half years, as opposed to partial closure over a longer peri

Work is now starting on the first construction phase of US Route 219 from Somerset to Meyersdale in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The project will see the route widened to four lanes, with the work being constructed through three main contracts and taking an estimated five years to build. The project is expected to improve safety along a 17km stretch of US219. The work includes two new interchanges, one at the Mason Dixon Highway and the other at Mud Pike. The project was originally conceived in the 1970s

Delays now look likely to affect the construction programme for Chile’s Chacao Bridge project. The US$740 million bridge project, long in planning, has been delayed on previous occasions for a number of reasons. The tolled link will connect Chiloé Island with the Chilean mainland in its Region X once complete. This 2.6km link will become South America’s largest suspension bridge although its opening will reduce journey times considerably over 25-45 minutes taken by the ferries used at present to link with C

Italian state-controlled road group ANAS has drawn a series of tenders worth over €120 million combined to improve road safety for extraordinary maintenance works on tunnels, bridges and viaducts on 25,000 kilometres of motorway and road network nationwide. The tenders involve 13 regions, including: €35.1 million for works in Basilicata; €29.3 million for Tuscany; €14.4 million for Marche; €11.6 million for Lazio; €8 million for Emilia-Romagna; €5.2 million for Campania; €4 million for Piedmont; €3.8 mi

The Chinese city of Kunming has increased spending on transport by 28.86% to almost US$1.8 billion (CNY 10.99 billion) in the first half of 2013, compared to the same period of 2012. According to the Kunming Traffic Transport Bureau, who disclosed the investment rise, the total included $1.71 billion (CNY 10.59 billion) spent on airport facilities, urban rail transports and key city and provincial projects, and $8.66 million (CNY 53.42 million) on rural roads.