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Urban mobility is high on the infrastructure agenda in Mexico. While highways continue to be a priority, capital Mexico City and other large cities across the country are looking to implement mass transport systems such as bus rapid transit (BRT) lines.

The tender process for the A355 western Strasbourg bypass in France is nearing completion and the winner will be announced shortly. The 24km highway stretch is expected to take 52 months to build and will cost some €750 million while for the moment at least, Vinci Concessions is the preferred bidder. The 55 year contract includes design, financing, construction and operation and maintenance.

The Moroccan Government is increasing its investment in roads and highways by 21% from last year. The country intends to spend US$6.32 billion on improving the road network. A further $14.5 billion is expected from private sources and other funding bodies. Work on the El Jadida-Safi highway project will commence in 2012 and is expected to cost $497million. Work on the Tit Mellil-Berrechid highway section will cost $152.55 million. The authorities in Morocco are now assessing 13 bids submitted in the tender

Late in 2010 Macquarie Mexican Infrastructure Fund (MMIF), the first peso-denominated fund focused solely on investment opportunities in Mexican infrastructure projects, completed the acquisition of a northern Mexico highway package.

More than 1,600 people took part in four days of transport research topic discussion at the TRA2012 conference in Athens, Greece. The event between 23-26 April included a special focus on infrastructure, with large numbers of FEHRL (Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories) members taking part in different sessions. One key strategic session titled ‘Infrastructure for the 21st century’ was moderated by Hans Jeekel (Rijkswaterstaat) and featured Marit Brandtsegg from Statens Vegvesen (NPRA) a

Raising awareness of safety in highway work zones is a global issue, and various initiatives highlight this as Patrick Smith reports. So seriously is work zone safety taken in the United States that each year since 1999 a special week has been set aside to highlight it. Each year in April, National Work Zone Awareness Week is held to bring national attention to motorist and worker safety and mobility issues in work zones.

Highway construction work zones are dangerous places, and anything that can improve safety is welcomed as Patrick Smith reports. The safe and efficient flow of traffic through work zones is a major concern to transportation officials, industry, the public, businesses, and commercial motor carriers. This is the view of the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which has developed the Highway Work Zone Safety Program to reduce the fatalities and injurious crashes in work zones, and to enhance traffic oper

Telvent GIT has been awarded a contract by the Transcity JV, with Brisbane City Council as the end customer, to implement the ITS for Legacy Way (formerly Northern Link) in Australia. Legacy Way is a 4.6km road tunnel that will connect Brisbane’s western and inner northern suburbs, delivering travel time savings of up to 44 per cent when it opens. The ITS contract is valued at around US$32 million.

Work on a major upgrade at a busy German road junction is expected to be completed by the end of 2011. To assist in the project, two Putzmeister large-boom concrete pumps, an M 58-5 from Berger Beton and an M 62-6 from BFM Betonförderdienst in Munich, arrived at the Neufahrn motorway junction, north of the city.

Austrian construction company Strabag SE has issued a US$131.8million (€100million) corporate bond. The fixed-interest bond has a term to maturity of seven years and a coupon of 4.25 % per annum. A Strabag spokesperson said the bond issue had already been met with great interest among institutional investors. It is also available for subscription to Austrian, German and Luxembourgian private investors until 8 May, 2012. With a face value of US$1,318 (€1,000), the bond is targeted not only at institutional

The state Government in New South Wales (NSW), Australia is making a major investment designed to boost road safety. Some US$156 million (A$170 million) is being set aside.

A US$4 billion bypass contract has been signed in Hong Kong. The deal for the Central-Wan Chai Bypass project has been agreed by the Hong Kong Highways Department with the joint venture Chun Wo-CRGL-MBEC.

Manitou Group president Jean-Christophe Giroux said 2012 would be the year of “Refoundation” for the Group after it recorded a 19% rise in revenue in the first quarter of the year to US$416.6million (€316million). Growing revenue, sustained order intake and high backlog had, said Giroux, given Manitou a great platform for the coming year and beyond. “Things are undoubtedly getting more and more difficult in Southern Europe but Northern Europe, the US, and Asia are showing resilient signs for positive busine

The first INTERMAT Middle East, the international exhibition for machinery, materials and equipment for construction and infrastructure, has been held in Abu Dhabi.

New research in Spain that explored solutions to reducing traffic noise suggests that the best option is to combine global measures, such as speed restrictions, and local measures, such as noise screens.

Telvent GIT has been awarded a project to develop the smart mobility management system in the city of Quito, in Ecuador. This ambitious project, headed up by EPMMOP (the Metropolitan Public Mobility and Public Works Company) is intended to solve the traffic problems facing the two million citizens in Quito’s metropolitan area each day.

Turkey recently unveiled ambitious targets towards improving its transportation infrastructure for 2023, the year the country will celebrate its 100th year anniversary as Republic of Turkey. The main means of transportation in Turkey is by highways, and the coach and bus industry has played a crucial role in passenger transportation. The recent increases in the number of airports and charter companies have made travel by plane a potential choice for passengers. However, railways have contributed rather insi

Naue Geosynthetics says its Secugrid offers a solution for a host of ground preparation problems, and for use in reinforced retaining walls. Secugrid is a geogrid made from extruded monolithic flat bars with welded junctions, for soil reinforcement in earth, landfill and road construction as well as in hydraulic engineering applications. Among its benefits are said to be its high strength and low elongation thanks to the extruded elements.

A series of balancing ponds are being used to create a sustainable drainage solution on the Highways Agency’s £375m 28km dual carriageway extension of the A46 in Nottinghamshire. Fearing that a doubling of the surface area of the Newark to Widmerpool trunk road would create excessive high surface water runoff, principal contractor Balfour Beatty and their consultant engineers, URS Scott Wilson, designed 12 balancing ponds, with the outfall from each controlled by Hydro International’s Hydro-Brake Flow Cont

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