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Road management firm Ruta del Sol intends to invest US$846 million in Colombia’s Ruta del Sol highway during 2012. The highway connects Colombia’s Central region with the Atlantic coast. Ruta de Sol has already invested $282 million in maintenance works for the 600km or so of existing highway and intends to extend the highway by a further 100km. Ruta de Sol has already opened the first 10km of the highway that forms part of the Sector 2 stretch of the, linking Puerto Salgar (Cundinamarca) to San Roque (Cesa

Visionstream Australia has been selected as preferred provider for an AU$62.5 million (US$67 million) contract by VicRoads to deliver the ITS communications infrastructure and intelligence services to the M80 Ring Road in Melbourne, Australia. The installation of this electronic freeway management system along 38kms of road from Laverton North to Greensborough will provide VicRoads with the ability to manage traffic flow and reduce congestion on the M80 and its main connecting roads. Under the contract, Vis

Vitronic Machine Vision Middle East and its Qatar partner Itqan Holding have announced an order for 26 PoliScan systems, 16 of which will be employed for speed enforcement, while ten will operate as combined solutions for speed and red light enforcement. The Doha airport’s operating company Qatar Civil Aviation Authority is Vitronic’s end customer in Qatar and the new systems will be used primarily for enforcement on the Airport Road, built last year. The PoliScan systems’ deployment, Vitronic’s secon

Highway surveying company Yotta DCL has signed a four-year contract worth around US$3.61 million with the UK Highways Agency to survey and monitor some 140,000km of motorway and other major roads across England. As part of the agreement, Yotta DCL will perform a traffic speed condition survey (TRACS) to determine the condition of the road surface, assess the areas in particular need of repair and determine where immediate action needs to be taken. The company will use its new state-of-the-art Tempest highwa

The Indonesian government is committed to developing transport infrastructure leading to the Tanjung Lesung and Sei Mangke special economic zones (SEZs), according to the vice minister of national planning and development Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo. Development of the infrastructure within the zones will be carried out by their management company Perkebunan Nusantara III. Tuwo said the national government will be involved in the development of the Kuala Tanjung port, the nearby national roads and railway t

Alfom, a German IT company, has announced the TripGuard app (www.tripguard.de) for Android (which will shortly also be available for the iPhone) that provides an eCall service in case of emergency. The inventor of the system was driven to develop the software following the tragic death of his mother in the autumn of 2010. Late one night, her car left the road, overturned and was not visible to passing motorists. Seriously injured but still conscious, it was nearly two hours before she was discovered and rel

Global consumption of asphalt is forecast to rise 4.1% annually from a 2010 base to 119.5million tonnes in 2015, according to a new leading market research firm study. The volume predicted in World Asphalt, a new study from The Freedonia Group based in Cleveland, the United States, is equivalent to 725million barrels of primary asphalt. High petroleum prices combined with economic weakness and declining construction activity is said by Freedonia to have resulted in a significant drop in consumption in

Telvent GIT has announced that the company is rolling out its advanced mobility management technology, SmartMobility Traffic, in the Chinese cities of Beijing, Panjin, Fushun, Nanning, Urumqi, Erdos, Yiqi, Changchung and Zhunki. The company says its technology is helping to reduce traffic delays in these urban environments by over 35 per cent and will enable traffic operators in these cities to centralise urban mobility and violation management, control traffic in real time, and respond more rapidly to any

The Canadian cities of Quebec and Montreal are to take part in a pilot study involving speed control devices. The country’s government has authorised the installation of photo radars, speedometers and other photographic speed control devices at strategic points along the municipal road network of both major cities. Details of the pilot project will be presented to the National Assembly by Quebec's Transport Minister, Pierre Moreau. There are currently around 15 photographic speed control devices in op

The UK’s road markings are said to be vanishing rapidly, according to a new survey by a leading highways organisation. A snapshot survey of nearly 500 miles by the Road Safety Markings Association (RMSA) revealed that well over half of white lines in Scotland and Wales are almost non-existent, and England’s fare little better. On average, the RSMA survey found that 50.6% of the UK’s surveyed road markings are barely visible. And almost a quarter (23%) of roads are classified as needing ‘emergency repa

The authorities in the African nation of Angola intend to rebuild some 3,000km of roads in the east of the country. This plan forms part of the Programme of Public Investments being set out by the Angolan National Roads Institute (INEA). The aim is to improve connectivity between the provinces of Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul and Moxico and the rest of Angola. The top priority project will be the upgrade of a series of stretches of National Road 180. The INEA is also keen to carry out a programme of maintenance an

Ultra Plant International (UPI) has finalised a new French dealership agreement with Terre Pro during INTERMAT. The company, which manufactures trommel screeners for recycling applications, is excited about its commercial opportunities in France. “We focus on the small and medium level business user,” said firm sales and marketing manager Michael McMenamin.

McCrory Engineering, making its first construction show appearance outside the UK, claims its MCM-40 is the world’s first mobile concrete batching plant that is also self-erecting. A prototype of the plant will go on show at Hillhead 2012 in Buxton, England, this June and the firm was keen to promote its advantages during INTERMAT. Producing up to 60m³ of concrete an hour, the MCM-40 is also a quick starter. “You put it on the site and in three hours maximum you’re making concrete,” said Keith Murphy, sales

Markuu Teräsvasara, president Atlas Copco surface drilling, was among those providing a glimpse of the future of drilling. He said that three futuristic drill rig models on show at INTERMAT, codenamed ROC Xone, ROC Xtwo and ROC Xthree, were examples of how the company’s designers are developing new systems. It is claimed they will offer extreme silencing and independently operated booms; separate wheel positioning systems for difficult terrain while flattening for loading and transport, and also fit into a

Preliminary data from Destatis, Germany's Federal Statistics Office, shows a worrying increase in road related fatalities during 2011. The number of people killed in traffic accidents in German increased 9.4% to 3,991 in 2011 compared with the previous year. Injuries in road accidents also increased 5.5% to some 391,500. The unfavourable development was e.g. attributable to weather conditions. However, the total number off road traffic accidents recorded by the German police fell by 2.8% to around 2.3 mi

The Kenyan Government is planning to invest US$4.82 billion in a major multi-modal infrastructure project to reduce Nairobi’s traffic congestion. The Nairobi Metropolitan Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) will include a new rail transport network, and a public road of 167km linking the city with key neighbouring towns and municipalities such as Athi River, Kikuyu, Kajiado, Kitengela, Limuru, Machakos, Ruiru and Thika. The MRTS project will be managed by Nairobi Metropolitan Transport Authority and th

Smart Signal Technologies has launched what it claims is a remarkable new product that will save taxpayers millions of dollars annually as it improves traffic signal performance along congested signalised arterial corridors. The product, a compact device with powerful data collection and communication features, permits the gathering of high resolution data for processing into actionable real-time information to measure and monitor signal and corridor performance. Using unique AdaptiTrol technology licenc

ITS America and Southwest Research Institute are once again sponsoring the Annual Student Essay Competition for the 2012 ITS America Annual Meeting & Exposition, which is being held in Washington D.C. on 21-23 May, 2012. Designed to encourage student interest and future participation in the development of ITS and solutions, the objective of the essay competition is to provide an opportunity for today’s transportation and engineering students to apply their knowledge in a thought-provoking and enjoyable c

Sandvik Construction’s Thomas Schulz discusses re-introduction of the Rammer brand, Caterpillar’s asphalt grading systems, Gomaco’s Rory Keogh on traffic barriers & safety and World Highways Editor Mike Woof’s closing commentary on INTERMAT 2012.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has announced that 32 firms submitted responses to the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDoT) Request for Information regarding the operation and integration of the state's transportation operations centres (TOCs). VDoT operates five TOCs across the commonwealth that monitor traffic conditions via cameras and other technology, providing traveller information on road conditions and coordinating congestion management and incident response. “I am extremely pleased wit