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Halcrow has been appointed by Transport Scotland to develop a bridge operating company contract to manage and maintain the new Forth Replacement Crossing and existing Forth Road Bridge. The £1.6million commission, won in the face of stiff competition under Transport Scotland’s multiple framework agreement, runs to December 2014.

Road deaths in France reportedly fell by 22.2% to 280 in April 2012, compared to 360 in the same month of 2011. Further figures show that the number of road deaths over the first four months of 2012 fell 16.1%, which translates to 202 lives saved in comparison to the same period of the previous year. The number of road deaths fell 9% in March 2012 and 25.3% in February 2012. From May 2011 to April 2012, road deaths fell 8.7% to 3,765, the first time the number of people killed over a year has fallen to und

The bi-annual CECE Congress was held in Spain when participants looked forward in a bid to see what will happen in the next ten years. Growth markets such as China, India and Brazil offer big opportunities to European construction equipment manufacturers. As companies, particularly those from China, start to expand outside their own countries the competition for business will increase, and it has been claimed that there is no such thing as 'the global market', rather it is the sum of hundreds, if not thousa

Mega project of “extreme beauty” receives top award from the IRF, writes Patrick Smith.The Sheikh Zayed Bridge, which was constructed for the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, has won the Global Road Achievement Award in the design category from the International Road Federation (IRF). The 2011 Global Road Achievement Awards (GRAA) programme is a worldwide contest held to identify and honour excellence, innovation and exceptional achievements in 12 key categories in the transport and infrastructure industry.

The use of high-pressure water jets to remove old concrete on structures is becoming increasingly popular. Hydrodemolition of concrete structures by robotic equipment is becoming an increasingly used method for removing deteriorated concrete with high-pressure water techniques.

A Colombian contractor tackles specifications for asphalt road work with Astec equipment.Award-winning Colombian contractor MHC has upgraded its Astec Portable Double Barrel plant to handle highway and other projects. The plant, installed in Bucaramanga, equipped with two RAP [recycled asphalt pavement] bins, a Double Barrel Green System, and one New Generation silo was bought by MHC in 2009. It has now received a second silo and a truck scale extension.

Infrastructure construction in China is booming as never before, but sealing the world’s longest immersed tunnel is a technically complex engineering project. The impressive Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau fixed link project in China includes an immersed tunnel with a record-breaking length of almost 7km. In 2009 construction began on a project to link the island of Hong Kong with Macau and the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai. The link will be one of the region’s most technically complex engineering projects ever. I

A variety of systems are available for quickly and efficiently removing water from roads as Patrick Smith reports. The presence of water in a highway layer reduces the bearing capacity of the road, and in doing so it also reduces the structure's lifetime. Indeed, the recent extremely cold winter in many parts of Europe has shown that in colder climates there is a risk of frost damage when water is present resulting in costly potholes, so drainage systems performing properly are important in road design.

Contractor FM Conway is working on a three year contract with Dover Harbour Board to reconstruct and resurface busy access routes and large vehicle parks within the port. One of the major factors for this contract being awarded was the company's strong green credentials. The contract is based around small and large individual paving projects within the Eastern Docks, which can range in time scales from three weeks to six months. The first phase of work, which started in early May, was to fully reconstruct

The latest IRF Bulletin is wholly devoted to issues of Environment & Climate Change as they impact on the road infrastructure sector. It features an authoritative but highly readable set of articles contributed by IRF members throughout the world. A comprehensive range of topics is covered in-depth, including policy & regulatory measures, tools for assessing, quantifying and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, technology advancements and mechanisms for adapting to climate change impacts.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Transport has awarded Traffic Tech (Gulf) – Abu Dhabi a traffic signal maintenance contract for the Al Ain Municipality. Valued at over US$ 4.5 million, the contract will run for two years covering maintenance and development of all traffic signals throughout the city. Recently, Middle East Integrated Systems (MEIS), Traffic Tech Group’s Bahraini based company, has also been awarded Bahrain’s traffic signal maintenance contract covering over 280 intersections. Currently, the grou

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved two loans worth €85 million for Croatia's road infrastructure. The first part of the loan is worth €60 million and will be used for construction of the Corridor Vc highway. The deal was signed between the EIB and Croatian motorways company Hrvatske Autoceste (HAC). The loan will finance 50% of the construction of the Corridor Vc highway. This includes a 12.5km section of the highway along the southern and northern part of the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina

The introduction of diesel hybrid vehicles in Europe will help reduce CO2 emissions. Automotive OEMs are now developing and introducing low-emission vehicles and by 2015, every other new car sold in Europe will have CO2 emissions in the range of 101-120grammes/km, according to a report by Frost & Sullivan.

The UK Highways Agency is urging drivers to take extra care at roadworks. This moveis intended to reduce deaths and injuries among roadworkers and road users. The issue of safety in workzones is a serious one and has been highlighted in other European countries as well as in the US. Highways Agency research shows that over 80% of UK drivers say that their driving changes at roadworks, including slowing down and being more careful and attentive.

The organisers of the PLANTWORX exhibition have carried out a Grand Stand Draw for exhibitors at the Heritage Motor Museum, in the UK. Following a conference hosted by the Construction Equipment Association, the organisers of PLANTWORX, over 60 guests from the construction industry witnessed the PLANTWORX Grand Stand Draw.

Europe’s road building contractors are likely to see a drop in activity levels in Poland in coming years. This is likely to spark concern in the industry as Poland has been a major source of revenue in recent years due to the expansion of its road network. The country’s expenditure on road building may well shrink in the next EU budget. Poland’s Infrastructure Ministry GDDKiA has said that the pace of road building in the country will drop considerably after 2013. GDDKiA said that it had no information as y

Frost-heaving continues to be a problem on Norwegian roads despite the introduction of tougher regulations for building and frost securing over the last 20-30 years. An expert group at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens Vegvesen) has reviewed the problem and concluded that lacking technical competence among road builders and those controlling construction is the main problem. Norway’s Directorate of Public Roads (Vegdirektoratet) admits that there are problems with the lack of competence but

Upgrade work to five sections of the D1 highway in the Czech Republic is due to commence in spring 2012. The first sections to be rebuilt are from are Sternov-Psare, Loket-Horice, Vetrny Jenikov-Jihlava, Lhotka-Velka Bites and Velka Bites-Devet Krizu. The Transport Ministry prioritised these sections for repair, although full permission has yet to be given before the work can commence.

Preparation work is expected to commence in 2012 on the new bypass around Swedish capital Stockholm. This project has now been delayed by one year although the work will go ahead, following a series of appeals over various contract issues. The major works for the Förbifart Stockholm project will commence in 2013 and the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) and its consultants are now trying to catch up with the schedule to ensure that the work can be completed on, or at least close to, the origin

Plans are in hand in Romania for the upgrades to the Bucharest ring road. This work is due to be completed by 2014, according to the country’s Transport Ministry. Reconstruction and modernisation of the Chitila-Voluntari segment of the ring road was completed in 2010 and the modernisation of another two segments were completed in 2011. Also, the upgrading of two further segments will be finished by mid 2013. The investment in the five segments of the ring road is expected to reach €100.17 mill