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In Poland, the European Investment Bank has committed itself to maintaining its loan agreement for the A1 highway, despite recent problems over the project. The e1.1 billion loan that the EIB had agreed with Autostrada Poludnie for construction of a 180km section of the A1 highway from Strykow to Pyrzowice, will now be placed at the disposal of the Polish highway authorities. To carry out the work, Poland has to raise a further e503 million, which could be obtained from an issue of road bonds. Autostrada Po

While both the police and firefighting are recognised as occupations that carry dangers, nearly 13 per cent of the firefighters and police officers who die in the line of duty are killed in vehicle-related incidents, while fire trucks are involved in ten times as many collisions as other heavy trucks.

Following one of the coldest winters in recent memory, Britain’s roads have stacked up an estimated £10 billion (€11.5 billion) repair bill just for potholes. These are caused by the freeze/thaw cycle: water seeps into cracks in the road surface, expands when frozen and then breaks up when it thaws. It has been estimated that in Britain there is at least one pothole for every 110m (sometimes many more) and that it will take at least 15 years to fix the problem.

Vitronic Machine Vision Middle East, a subsidiary of the German machine vision expert Vitronic, has deployed a sophisticated calibration stand for laser systems in Dubai. The device supports annual inspection of laser speed and red light systems as required by law in most European countries. The company claims it is the first manufacturer offering calibration technology for laser systems in the Middle East.

The first agreements for Amsterdam’s proposed underground highway have now been reached. These have been made by the Dutch Minister for the Environment and Transport as well as Amsterdam local authority and the province of North-Holland. Under the agreed terms, the A10 highway will feature 12 lanes of traffic in four 1.2km tunnels under the capital, Amsterdam. The project will also include building metro and rail lines underground.

A bridge collapse at the weekend on Borneo Island in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan has injured 39 people and killed 11, while at least 30 are missing and presumed drowned. The entire deck of the 720m long suspension bridge collapsed, plunging a bus as well as trucks, cars and motorcycles into the Mahakam River. The bridge was completed in 2002 but suffered serious damage to one of its supports last year when it was struck by a coal carrying barge and has been hit on several previous occasions by vessels plyin

Between January and September 2009, some €1.27 billion was invested into Italy’s highway network. This equated to 92% of the €1.38 billion originally estimated in the financial plan. ANAS, the Italian public motorway concessionary, said that by the 31 December, 2008, some €40.1 million was budgeted for ordinary maintenance, and €451.5 million linked to the financial benefit for delayed investments. The highway sector has an investment plan worth over €40.7 billion, of which €7.2 billion is for Concessioni

Albania’s road network will benefit from three new links being built during 2010. These will connect capital Tirana and Klos, Tirana and Elbasan as well as Berat and Tepelena. The new roads will help cut journey times substantially by as much as 50-70% overall. Once the new link is built between Tirana and Elbasan, journey time will be around 20-25 minutes and this project has been designed by an Italian company.

The EU is warning Bulgaria that €200 million in funding for the second Danube bridge project may be withdrawn if the work is not finished by the close of 2010. The EU is now considering whether to extend the projects deadline and the contractor building the bridge estimates that the work will not be completed until mid-2011. If funding is withdrawn, Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport hope to seek some financing from the European Investment Bank as well as the Bulgarian state budget.

Slovakia’s troubled D1 highway project continues to be a topic of controversy in the country, with doubts over whether there are sufficient funds to pay for the completion of the route. A political debate focuses on whether the Transport Ministry should have extended the deadline for the agreement of the financial package for the first tranche of contracts for the highway. The Slovenske Dialnice consortium recently met with the Transport Ministry over the decision not to continue with the PPP project to c

UK contractor FM Conway has formally opened its new ship unloading facility at its asphalt plant at Erith in Kent on the banks of the River Thames near London. The unloading facility will allow the plant to increase efficiency for the delivery of recycled materials to the plant and reduce truck movements. This is one of the largest and most sophisticated asphalt plants capable of using recycled feed materials to make high quality asphalt road product. The Benninghoven BM5000 plant was purpose built for FM C

Chinese contractor Sinohydro is to start a road construction project in Moldova worth €48 million. It is likely to be the first of several Chinese companies to carry out work in the country.

Funding for a road project in Spain is being set out by contractor Sacyr. The savings banks Caixanova and Unicaja will provide the funding, which will allow work to be completed on a 24.5km stretch of the AP-46 toll road linking Malaga and Alto de Las Pedrizas as to date only half of the work has been finished on the €367 million project. A further €200 million is required, with Sacyr providing the rest from its own sources.

Serbia’s Corridor 10 project, seen as key to the country’s future economic development, is 20 years behind schedule. With construction delayed and the matter being debated, the Serbian Ministry for Infrastructure, which reported the schedule delay, says the country is working as fast as possible, with 22km being built/year. The corridor will connect the country with its neighbours and provide an important route for through traffic.

The UK Government’s annual report on the number of road deaths and injuries shows that 2,222 people were killed in Britain in 2009 while, according to police statistics, 24,690 were seriously injured. However, the real figure is estimated to be closer to 80,000 when data from other sources are taken into account. For the first time the government has estimated the total cost of road deaths and injuries to the economy, taking into account under-reporting of injuries by police and using other data sources.

The future of Britain’s highways industries, including maximising reduced budgets and improving road safety, forms the core of the conference programme at the Seeing is Believing event. With a keynote address and introduction by Roads Minister Mike Penning MP, Seeing is Believing, a combination of industry conference, trade exhibition and live demonstrations, has his full support, and is being held at a purpose-designed venue at the MIRA site, near Nuneaton, County Warwickshire, England, from 9-11 November

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing major funding in Albania’s road network. A loan worth €53 million will help pay for the construction of the new Fier and Vlore bypasses. This loan will aid further development of the Albanian road network and boosting economic integration in the country by co-financing the construction of the two bypass roads, located in south-western Albania. The EBRD loan is structured in two tranches and will be used by the Albanian Road Authority t

A new 1.5km tunnel to carry vehicle traffic, and estimated to cost €130 million, is being planned in the Finnish capital Helsinki. The tunnel would run under the Kalasatama area, and is the latest of several tunnelling projects under Helsinki. A major utility tunnel network system was started some years ago with the aim of reducing roadworks and congestion.

A report on road maintenance in 13 European nations highlights Italy as spending the most on its network in 2007. According to the data, Italy spent €835 million on road maintenance followed by the Netherlands with €786 million, the UK with €753 million and Spain with €718 million.

The new Ford Focus has become the first ever car to receive four Euro NCAP Advanced safety rewards after its driver alert and forward alert technologies were honoured this week. The rewards come a month after new Ford Ranger achieved an historic first by becoming the only pickup to receive a maximum 5 Star safety rating from Euro NCAP. Ranger also achieved the highest score ever recorded by Euro NCAP for pedestrian protection.