News

The authorities in China have revealed that construction of the Fuzhou section of the new Beijing-Taipei highway will commence by late May 2012. The two-way four-lane expressway will have a design speed of 100km/h. The 53km Fuzhou section is expected to cost some US$1.04 billion to construct. This section of highway will take four years to complete.

The company handling the Fehmarnbelt tunnel project that will connect Denmark and Germany has confirmed that the project will now be delayed. Femern has now revealed that construction will not start before summer 2015, a year later than originally planned. Denmark is expected to commence its environmental compatibility study in May 2013.

The International Transport Forum has released its IRTAD Road Safety Annual Report 2011, which reveals road safety improvements were not as marked in 2011 as 2010.

A majority of Americans believe new transportation projects should be paid for with user-fees instead of tax increases, according to a new national Reason-Rupe poll of 1,200 adults on cell phones and land lines.

Some $1.6 billion in funding is being provided from US federal funds to states and territories across the nation to cover the costs of repairing roads and bridges damaged by natural disasters. Funding from the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Emergency Relief Programme was provided by the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012.

UK engineering firm DavyMarkham is now owned by Indian company, Hindustan Dorr Oliver (HDO). The Indian firm is a subsidiary of IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects and this acquisition provides HDO with an entry into the heavy engineering market.

Swedish-based Volvo Construction Equipment has appointed Pat Olney as its new president and CEO, effective from 1 May.

Austrian construction firm STRABAG has won a major road contract from Poland’s General Directorate for National Roads and Highways (GDDKiA). The deal is for the construction of a 40km section of the S8 Expressway between Walichnowy and Sieradz Poùudnie, some 240km to the south west of capital Warsaw.

Haulotte Group (HG) increased its Q4 2011 sales by 13%, compared to the same period of 2010. The rise took consolidated October 1 to December 31 2011 sales to US$107.1million (€82.2 million) compared with $94.5million (€72.5million) in the same three months of last year.

A new US$350 million road project by the Israel National Roads Company will boost connectivity from the north to the centre of the country. The project is seeing the opening of new interchanges and roads in western Galilee. The aim of the project was to double the traffic capacity on Road 77, the Hamovil and Somech junctions and road No 79 that connects them.

Plans are in hand for major upgrades to Russia’s road network. Russian Highways (Avtodor) aims to construct 958km of roads, as well as to reconstruct 963km of road and improve 700km of road bed by 2019. The 684km M11 highway linking Moscow with St Petersburg is the top-priority. A 72km bypass road will be built in the Tver region.

Inge Zhou has been appointed as vice president of corporate communications for Volvo Construction Equipment newly formed China sales region. In her new role, Zhou will be based in Volvo CE's Shanghai office and report to regional president Laurence Luo. She will be responsible for all corporate communication activities within the region, as well as being a member of the China management team.

Serbia has managed to reduce the cost of building the Corridor 10 highway by €80 million. These funds will instead be used to pay for upgrades and improvements needed for the second section of the highway project, close to Neradovci. So far some 180km of the Corridor 10 highway has been built over a 40 month time frame. A further 150km of the highway has still to be built. Work on the Corridor 10 motorway is also being financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the state budget. Wh

The Hertz Corporation has announced a new electric bicycle offering in several tourist areas of Spain following a successful launch in London earlier this year.Hertz customers in Spain now have a choice of nine different Swiss Flyer electric bikes available from 24 euros (US$32) a day.

The Swedish Road Administration (Transportstyrelsen) has extended the contract, announced on 27 October, 2010, appointing Q-Free to service and maintain the congestion charging infrastructure in Stockholm which was delivered by Q-Free in 2006.