Road Structures

A massive bridge project in China is due to commence shortly. The work involves the construction of a bridge that will be nearly 20km long and the project is expected to cost close to US$672 million in all. The bridge will run from Xiangzhou district and connect through to Zhuhai city. The structure is expected to be ready to carry traffic in May 2017.

Plans are in hand in South Africa for road improvements to a key link between Pongola and eDumbe. The work involves improvements to some 77km of road in all and is expected to cost in the region of US$113 million.

Mexico’s Puebla State has major plans to develop its infrastructure, with the transport network having been placed as a priority for economic growth. A budget of some US$1.21 billion has been set out for infrastructure projects between 2014 and 2018. Of this, some 66.2% will be used to construct a new highway.

The governing Liberals in Ontario, Canada say they are willing to commit US$907 million (CAD 1billion) to develop a transport corridor including roads to the ‘Ring of Fire’, believed to hold one of the biggest chromite deposits globally, if the funds are matched by the federal Conservatives. They have asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper to pay for 50% of the $2.03 billion (CAD 2.25 billion) estimated cost of developing project-linked roads and industrial infrastructure.

Work is underway in China's Hebei province on the Zhangjiakou section of Erenhot-Qinhuangdao expressway. A total of US$1.12 billion (CNY 7 billion) will be invested in the 130.13km section, which will span between Dongtan Village of Guyuan County and Bainaobao Village of Kangbao County.

Australian developer and operator of tolled roads, Transurban, is planning to spend US$788.29 million (AUD 850 million) to widen an eight-lane tolled section of Tullamarine freeway leading to Melbourne Airport.

The tender process has been extended for three highway concession packages in Colombia, according to Business News Americas. The country's national infrastructure agency (ANI) has extended the bid deadlines for the Pacífico 2 (Bolombolo-La Pintada), Pacífico 3 (La Pintada-La Virginia) and Río Magdalena 2 (Remedios-Puerto Berrío) projects. The three highway concessions are worth a total of US$1.2 billion and form part of Colombia’s Autopistas para la Prosperidad highway programme. ANI opted to delay the tend

Plans have been put forward for a new ring road around the Vietnamese city of Hanoi. The project is expected to cost in excess of US$4 billion to construct and the road could be as much as 330km long.