Road Structures

In Zimbabwe work is being planned for the road connecting the country’s second city Bulawayo with Tsholotsho. This route is of importance as it connects through to the Hwange Game Reserve and also to Victoria Falls, both of which are key tourist destinations within Zimbabwe. The route also connects with Zimbabwe’s border crossing to neighbouring Zambia at Victoria Falls. So far only 50km of this 112km route has been upgraded but the new plans will see the entire route benefiting from major improvements. Wor

A series of road projects is now being funded in Paraguay due to financing being provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). Paraguay’s Ministry of Public Works and Communications is scheduling new road projects in the eastern part of the country during the first half of 2015. The US$105 million IADB loan will pay for 400kms of new roads and 2km of new bridges, with much of the work being carried out in rural areas.

In India plans are in hand to construct a new tunnel ring road for Mumbai. The project is expected to cost as much as US$14.4 billion. However the Indian Government is keen to reduce the construction costs considerably. The bypass tunnel would be connected with the planned highway linking to Ahmedabad. The aim of the bypass tunnel project would be to help reduce congestion in the city’s historic centre, by diverting through traffic.

The project to construct Malaysia’s West Coast Expressway deal has been awarded to a major contractor. Under the terms of the deal, the project will be carried out by the IJM-Kumpulan Europlus joint venture. The five year contract is expected to cost in the region of US$1.44 billion to carry out. When complete the new expressway will cut journey times between Taiping and Banting.

The Highways Agency in the UK has appointed a joint venture between Mott MacDonald and Grontmij to analyse various options for upgrades to the A27 Chichester Bypass. The aim of this project is to improve traffic flow and relieve congestion. The bypass is a 5km dual carriageway with five roundabouts and one signal control junction. It provides a key east-west transport link along the south coast of England. This connects Brighton, Worthing, Chichester, Portsmouth, Southampton. It currently suffers from heavy

In Mexico plans are proceeding on schedule for a new section of the Mexico City-Puebla motorway. The highway will be completed as planned, between July and August 2016, according to the Transport and Communications body SCT. The new section of highway will measure 13.3km long and feature four lanes.

The tender process is underway for a new tunnel link in the Southern German state of Bavaria.