Road Structures

A new 1km long tunnel is being planned to help reduce congestion in Skopje, capital of Macedonia. The tunnel will be built by Turkish contractor Limak. The contractor will also build its own commercial development above the tunnel as part of the agreement. The cost of the tunnel project is not available at this point.

The authorities in Costa Rica are transferring the concession for the San Hose-San Ramon highway. The Brazilian firm OAS is taking over the contract from Autopistas del Valle. The National Concessions Agency (CNC) has said that the contract will be similar to the original deal, although some additional works may be added. Extra projects are likely to include a four lane highway between Belen-Santa Ana as well as a new bridge over the Virilla River. In the 2006-2012 period, the cost of the project soared fro

Five Potain cranes were used to build pylons for the Viaduto do Corgo project in Portugal. The recently completed 2.8km viaduct is one of the longest and tallest in the country. The machines were supplied by Manitowoc's Portugal office on a rental contract, who managed the cranes throughout the project. In addition to installing the cranes, the local Manitowoc Crane Care team also climbed and relocated the cranes as work progressed. Each crane worked with a 45m jib and constructed four pylons at a time. In

Construction work on Indonesia’s Sunda Straits Bridge is planned to start in 2014. The 40,000ha of land required for the project has been prepared by the government. The project forms part of a wider plan to boost the economy growth of Sumatra. The Public Works Ministry is preparing the road development master plan to link Aceh to Lampung. The Indonesian Government will also look into developing the Malacca Straits following the completion of the Sunda Straits Bridge.

By order of Natalya Komarova, the governor of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area (Urals), A feasibility study is underway for the second bridge across the Ob River construction in Russia’s Surgut region. The 1.56km bridge will take 5-6 years to construct and will cost over US$1 billion to build. The first bridge over the Ob River was built in 2000. Average daily traffic already exceeds its planned volume, which is why the second crossing is required.

Works on Serbia’s Strazevica tunnel is due for completion in May 2012. The tunnel forms part of the Belgrade ringroad. Serbia’s Government is also planning to finish the construction of a total of 200km of the Corridor 10 motorway, following the completion of the Strazevica-Bubanj and Batajnica-Dobanovci sections. Work on the remaining 130km will commence soon. Meanwhile work on the Ljig-Preljina section of Corridor 11 is now underway.

Colbond, a leading producer of synthetic nonwovens and polymeric mats and composites, has appointed Jan Mahy as global director of research and development. He brings with him 18 years of professional experience and moves from Akzo Nobel, a former parent company of Colbond. "I am looking forward to join Colbond's vision to strengthen the company's postition as an innovative global player in technical textiles. Leading an international group of experts to develop and improve products for this industry