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Questions are being asked in the Netherlands following the news that twin road tunnels planned to form part of the new 7km stretch of the A4 highway between Delft and Schiedam will not meet EU safety regulations. The Dutch Commission for Tunnel Safety says that the link, which has a total of eight lanes, will not meet the EU regulations, which were toughened after a series of tunnel disasters in Austria and Switzerland. Instead the commission wants four tunnels to be built, each for two lanes of traffic,

Since 1990 loans worth a total of €10 billion have been granted by the EIB for Polish road projects, with some 20% of the loans going to private companies. During 2010, the EIB will be lending some €2.79 billion for Polish road projects.

Austria-headquartered Kapsch TrafficCom has been awarded the State Prize for Design 2011 in the category "Product design Industrial Design/Capital Goods" for its City Pole – a traffic telematics solution that sets the trend in terms of functionality and aesthetics. As the company points out, while telematics applications have become increasingly commonplace in the traffic segment in recent years, the focus has been mostly on technical components; design aspects were often only taken into consideration to th

TRL has seen significant growth in its software sales and consultant services to the Canadian market over the past 12 months. In order to continue its support to this important growth area it has joined the Transport Association of Canada (TAC) with members of TRL’s traffic and software team supporting its participation by attending the TAC Annual Conference and Exhibition in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in late September. Gavin Jackman, TRL’s Head of Traffic and Software said: “During the last 12 months we have

Paul Ducker Systems (PDS), a sub-contractor to Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, has appointed Team Simoco to provide communication systems for the new A3 Hindhead road tunnel and the refurbishment of the A1 Hatfield road tunnel. Specialising in supplying transportation infrastructure for tunnels and road networks, PDS also provides solutions to metro, rail and airport operators, and the Hindhead and Hatfield road tunnels, near London, are the latest contracts to be won by the company. PDS has selecte

French motorway operator Autoroutes Paris Rhin-Rhône (APPR) is testing the use of a vertical-axis wind turbine from Cita Production that can also harness the backdraft from passing trucks to increase output by some 20 per cent. The device, which has been tested successfully on the A6 motorway and will shortly go into full production, is designed to power roadside devices such as road signs, cameras, traffic monitoring sensors, and weather stations, where connection to the electricity grid would be too expen

A new section of Western High Speed Diameter (WHSD) highway from the Ring Road (KAD) to the Hyundai plant in Kamenka, has been opened to traffic in St Petersburg. The WHSD and KAD interchange will be completed by 2012 when the entire third phase of the highway will be built. The US$7.23 billion WHSD Tollway in the city is sponsored by the Federal Road Agency and it is said to be one of the most important means of solving the city’s transport problems. It is a strategic investment project to develop the ci

The authorities in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu are working fast to widen the Kathmandu Valley road. This key widening project includes take-up of public land along the route of the road as well as some land nearby belonging to government offices. The road widening programme has already seen the demolition of roadside structures in New Baneshwore, Kalimati, Lainchour, the wall of the Social Welfare Council Compound, Nagpokhari, Jay Nepal, Kamaladi and a portion of the Narayanhiti National Museum. It has also r

The President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso has unveiled his plans to raise new sources of finance to fund EU infrastructure projects. In a key 'State of the Union' address to the European Parliament, he said it would involve the establishment of EU project bonds issued in conjunction with the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Russia’s capital Moscow will see its highway network grow by 40km in the 2010-2015 period. In addition, 10km of roads will be entirely rebuilt. The city’s road building programme for 2010 is expected to cost in the order of €935 million, roughly a third of what was spent in 2008.

The tendering process is due to start in Hungary shortly for a series of highway maintenance and reconstruction works. The country’s highway management firm Allami Autopalya Kezelo (AAK) is also calling for tenders for a 118km section o the M1 highway. The winning contractor will be announced in May and work will then commence shortly after.

Israeli firm Solel Boneh is one of the preferred bidders for a toll road project in Montenegro, along with an as yet un-named European company. The tender is worth €1 billion and is for a 30 year concession for a 170km toll road. The project is Montenegro’s first PPP and is also the country’s largest ever infrastructure package. The road will run from Boljare on the Serbian border and the Adriatic Sea port of Bar.

plan for Italy’s key Orte-Mestre highway has been unveiled with the project expected to cost over €11 billion. Of this, some €1.43 billion is expected to be funded by the Italian Government, while €9.5 billion is expected to be provided by private sources. The work is expected to take several years to complete. The project will link the Adriatic Centre-South with the North-East, and connect with Europe’s with the corridor 5, running from Lisbon-Kiev.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is expressing concern at environmental issues over the new Moscow-St Petersburg tolled highway. The focus is on 14 historic oak trees that will have to be cut down in the Khimki forest to make way for the new highway. As a result the EBRD is considering withdrawing its funding and is currently looking to carry out a deeper examination of the project.

Cost reductions sought The transport authorities in Montenegro are still considering ways to reduce the construction costs of the Bar-Boljare highway. Croatian company Konstruktor is still keen to work on the highway project, which it priced at €2.7 billion. The Montenegro government cancelled Konstruktor’s concession agreement for the project recently. The Israeli-Greek consortium comprising Aktor, Shikun and Binui-HCH was the second ranked bidder for the project and is in talks with the Montenegro gove

Plans are being worked on intended to improve traffic flow around Belgium’s capital Brussels. The local government for the Flanders Region is considering a number of plans at present. The first would see a 15km tunnel running from Grand-Bigard to Woluwe-Saint-Etinne. The second option is for a second ring road to be construction between Alost, Malines and Louvain, which would leave the current ring road for traffic moving into and out of Brussels.

In Romania, modernisation of capital Bucharest’s ring road is now due for completion in 2012. The delay has been caused by a lack of funds. Upgrading of the sections between DN7 and DN1A and DN1A (Mogosoaia)and DN1 (Otopeni) started in 2007 and some 51km have been improved so far. The total length of the ring road will be 71km when it is complete. Tenders still have to be launched for two more sections of the ring road, the 11km DN2/A2 stretch and the 8.6km A1/DN7 section. Financing for these last section

Loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the EU will fiancé highway work in Georgia. The funds will be used to pay for the construction of the high-speed motor road running from West – East across Georgia. The EIB will give a long-term preferential credit worth €170 million, while the EU will provide a €20 million grant. As part of the project, a four lane highway measuring 52km will be built from Samtrediya – Grigoleti, while the 16km section Grigoleti - Kobuleti stretch will be repaired.

Efkon is playing an important role in the construction of the €660 million Limerick Tunnel project in Ireland. The project forms part of the country’s Transport 21 Plan, a huge road construction programme while the tunnel is the largest civil engineering work for the Dublin area since 1920.

ustria’s Government is cutting its road construction budget for 2010 in a bid to trim costs. This will have a major effect on the highway projects contractor Asfinag is involved in at present. The contractor may have to delay construction of the A5 and A3 projects or make them narrower.