Road Structures

Drivers in Angola are benefiting from a bridge that spans the Catumbela River, taking the place of an old structure that had proven not fit for purpose. The US$35 million cable stayed bridge is located in the highway between Benguela and Lobito, around 7km from Angola’s Atlantic coast and is one of a series of new infrastructure developments in the country. Angola suffered a long period of war that impacted on its people and infrastructure. The war resulted in severe damage to the country’s road system alon

The Mozambique government will build a road to link between the country and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. According to Cadmiel Muthemba, the Housing and Public Works Minister, works on the US$400 million project are due to commence from February 2014, with funds for the project provided by a loan extended by Exim Bank of China.

Transport journalist Eugene Gerden reports on why foreign companies are likely to become keener to invest in Russia’s huge array of major road construction projects The Russian government led by president Vladimir Putin is stepping-up its efforts to get greater foreign company investment in Russian road building by creating favourable trading conditions, including the elimination of bureaucratic and administrative barriers.

A new bridge project is planned for Izhevsk in Russia. The bridge will span the Kama River and is expected to cost US$438 million to construct. The contractor VTB is one of the firms that will be involved in the construction of the crossing. In addition VTB is also looking to build a bridge spanning the Lena River as well as a section of the high speed highway that will link Russia’s major conurbations of Moscow and St Petersburg. This last contract looks likely to be awarded in the second quarter of 2014.

A series of upgrades are planned for the two bridges crossing the Bosporus at Istanbul. A series of structural renovation works will be carried out. The work is due for completion in 2014 and includes the replacement of 236 cable sections. The tender for the work is now open to entrants although it has been closed to consortia.

The Victoria state government in Australia is planning to build Melbourne’s East West Link road costing US$5.64 billion (AUD 6 billion) to $7.53 billion (AUD 8 billion) on public-private partnership (PPP) basis and will award construction deals by the end of 2013. There are four consortia shortlisted for the18km tolled motorway project: Momentum Infrastructure, consisting of Leighton, John Holland, Iridium and Dragados; Sicuro, made up of Egis, Hyundai, Impregilo, Salini, Aquasia and InfraLinx Capital. T

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) plans to invest €10 billion (NOK 80 billion) in road building and tunnel upgrades from 2014-17, according to its new investment plan for the period. A further another €2.87 billion (NOK 23 billion) will be spent on pedestrian and cyclist safety measures. Veidekke, a Norwegian construction company, forecasts 2-3% annual growth in the Norwegian construction market in 2014, but with a flattening out of housing construction. It forecasts Sweden

Contractor ÍAV has suspended its construction of a road through the Gálgahraun lava field in Iceland until the courts rule on whether or not the halted project can be completed. The suspension of the project was agreed with environmental protection group Hraunavinir ('Lava Friends'), which has pledged to continue its protest against the road. As part of the agreement reached with Hraunavnir, ÍAV will in the meantime work on other projects that won’t have an irreversible impact on the lava field.