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Plans are in hand for major upgrades to Russia’s road network. Russian Highways (Avtodor) aims to construct 958km of roads, as well as to reconstruct 963km of road and improve 700km of road bed by 2019. The 684km M11 highway linking Moscow with St Petersburg is the top-priority. A 72km bypass road will be built in the Tver region. In total, Avtodor says it will invest US$45.3 billion in building tolled roads in Russia by 2019. Avtodor completed work on the 25km M-4 highway in December 2011. Meanwhile a tend

Germany’s Government intends to boost transportation infrastructure spending, with the majority of funds going towards roads. An increase of €1 billion will be targeted at transport with some 60% of that budget being used for improvements to the country’s road network. In contracts some 30% will be for port, canal and general shipping infrastructure with a mere 10% for rail investment. The German Government has also granted approval for work to the next stretch of the A44 autobahn. The new 7km link will run

Bosnia’s highway company Autoceste Federacije BiH will invest €500 million in the construction of the Corridor Vc road. The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide a loan of €166 million to part finance the project. The plans call for the construction of the 56km highway as well as an additional 10km of the Sarajevo ringroad. The cost of the project is three times higher than any other that the country has so far planned. Autoceste Federacije BiH has said that it will finance land expropriation.

In a surprise move the Turkish authorities have now cancelled the tender process for the construction of the third Bosphorus Bridge and the Kuzey Marmara highway. The process was cancelled as there were no bidders.

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 Chinese construction firm has managed to win a series of key highway contracts in China as well as overseas. The China Railways Group has contracts worth a total of US$1.58 billion in total for infrastructure projects.

The Brazilian authorities are looking to renegotiate contracts for a series of state road concessions that were auctioned up to 15 years ago. The intention is to improve the roads while cutting the rate of return for the concession holders, with controls on tariff rates to restrict price increases for users.

A joint venture comprising Impregilo and Astaldi is to handle a key road upgrade contract in Italy. The deal is worth some €791 million and will be carried out over a period of 92 months.

Following its December Forum on ITS for Urban Mobility, Ertico ITS Europe has published a 20-page report of the presentations from the high level speakers and participants from public authorities and industry given during the in-depth examination of the role and opportunities for ITS in urban mobility.

Mexico’s president Felipe Calderon has inaugurated the new Baluarte Bridge, which crosses the Baluarte River in the Sierra Madre mountain range in the north of the country. This 1.12km long bridge is 403m high at its central point over the steeply sloping ravine it spans, making it the highest cable-stayed structure in the world.

Serbia has managed to reduce the cost of building the Corridor 10 highway by €80 million. These funds will instead be used to pay for upgrades and improvements needed for the second section of the highway project, close to Neradovci. So far some 180km of the Corridor 10 highway has been built over a 40 month time frame. A further 150km of the highway has still to be built. Work on the Corridor 10 motorway is also being financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the state budget.

The tender has now been published by the Israel National Roads Company for the upgrade to Road No 85, a project expected to cost US$134.2 million (500 million NIS). The work includes widening and building an interchange on Roads No 85, which along with improvements to Road No 65 forms a key component of the Netivei Israel plan.

Reports suggest that up to 1 in 7 vehicles (14%) on US roads may be uninsured. Based on vehicle population figures this indicates that over 37 million vehicles are being used illegally.

Contractor Bechtel has worked with Network Rail to complete a major road bridge upgrade in the UK. A construction team worked 104 hours consecutively to replace the bridge, located at Reading Station.

With China slated to be the world’s biggest market for auto sales and exports by 2025, and demand for electric vehicles expected to be the highest in emerging markets, global auto players should have a clearer vision of the way forward on issues critical to the industry.

China’s Standardisation Administration is now giving its approval for new legislation covering charging of electric vehicles. The legislation is for issued four sections of the Electric Vehicle Charging Interface and Communication Protocol Standards.

Work is now commencing on a new highway megaproject in China. The 204km highway will be built in China’s Hebei Province and will cost around US$4.09 billion to construct.

Austrian construction firm STRABAG has won a major road contract from Poland’s General Directorate for National Roads and Highways (GDDKiA). The deal is for the construction of a 40km section of the S8 Expressway between Walichnowy and Sieradz Poùudnie, some 240km to the south west of capital Warsaw.

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.

A new coalition of executives from blue chip companies in the US transportation and utility industries has come together to design a large-scale electric vehicle (EV) demonstration project that will help create a comprehensive national model for EV deployment.