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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.

A seven year old US school boy was so keen to get to school when his parents slept in one morning that he took their car and attempted to drive himself. The boy unfortunately crashed the car en-route, although he only suffered minor injuries and was later discharged from hospital. He had missed the school bus and opted to take the car and drive to school but ran the car off the road several times before hitting an embankment and a utility pole. The boy arrived shortly after lunch after being taken to school

In Northern Nigeria motorcyclists have attempted to dodge new laws requiring the use of helmets by wearing dried pumpkin shells on their heads. Officials have cracked down on motorcycle riders wearing improvised helmets made from calabashes, dried pumpkin shells that are usually used to carry liquid. Motorcycle taxis are widely used in Nigeria to travel around the country's congested urban areas.

Modern software is stretching traditional design boundaries on a motorway widening in the Netherlands, reports Adrian Greeman There was a time when civil engineering and aesthetics did not mix too well, especially on roads. The artistic ideas of an architect did not blend with the stringent requirements of structure. But modern three-dimensional modelling software is helping this change. Design notions that might have been overly complicated in the past are now attainable with hi-tech analysis tools.

Chinese police were surprised to discover that a driver they stopped during a routine check had no arms. The man was steering the vehicle with his feet and explained that he had been doing so for many years. He said that ever since he lost both arms below the elbows in an industrial accident, he had used his feet to steer his vehicle without difficulty. The man was stunned when police officers issued him with a public safety summons and claimed that he was a safe driver, despite his disability. The driver s

A new four lane highway is being built under a design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) basis in India's Jammu & Kashmir state.

A British woman discovered that the windscreen washer fluid in her Toyota had run out, so she stopped at a filling station for a refill. However the air and water dispensers were out of order and when she asked inside the filling station, was told that she was not allowed a bucket of water to refill the fluid reservoir or wash her windscreen as this contravened the firm's health and safety policy. Using a cloth she managed to clear the screen sufficiently to allow her to drive 3km to another filling station

An American man rammed his vehicle into a car being driven by a woman and later claimed he had done so under express instructions from God. The man crashed his pick-up truck into the woman's car while he was travelling at over 160km/h. His vehicle hit the rear of the car and both vehicles spun across a median then came to a stop along a barrier in the opposite lanes. Luckily the drivers suffered only minor injuries and police commented that this could have been a sign of divine intervention given the high s

In Panama, a ten-year US$5 billion project is underway to double the capacity of the Panama Canal Since its completion in 1914 the Panama canal has allowed shipping to cross the 80km wide isthmus at the narrowest part of the Americas. Belgian company Dredging International's D'Artagnan, a self-propelled heavy-duty cutter suction dredger, arrived at the canal, and the latest addition to the Panama Canal Authority's (ACP) expansion dredging fleet then made its way to the Pacific entrance, where it will expa

As an aid to design, construction software continues to be a foundation stone in new project development. Autodesk is working with the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) and the Incheon Urban Development Corporation (IUDC) to cooperate in the creation of Asia's first Digital City for Incheon.

The decision by MB S.p.A. to exhibit a wide range of its bucket crushers in 'camouflage uniform' at the Bauma 2007 exhibition in Munich, Germany, brought it to the attention of the United States Army. Now the company's crusher buckets are found in US Army shipyards, and in what it describes as "an ever-increasingly demanding, improvised market."

A new report by the US-based Freedonia Group estimates that world demand for asphalt will grow 2.1%/year from the low in 2008 to 108 million tonnes in 2013.

Since 1908, the World Road Congress has been the premier international event for roads and road transport.

A new bridge, said to be the largest in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in terms of area, is being constructed as part of a major highway project. The US$550 million Saadiyat Expressway project, which involves Leighton Construction (Abu Dhabi), related to one of Australia's largest contracting groups, in constructing a ten-lane, 6.5km long highway to link the UAE's main city, with an exclusive island lying just offshore.

Contractor BAM Nuttall and specialist piling sub contractor Aarsleff Piling, have been working closely to develop a cost-effective solution to a tricky piling problem. The two firms have developed an alternative and versatile technique to reduce the risk of delays installing 2,150 precast concrete piles along part of the route of an innovative guided busway in Cambridgeshire in the UK.

Stricter emissions legislation mean that new engine technology and integrated drivetrain systems are being developed. With the Tier 3/Stage IIIA emissions legislation now in place in North America and Europe, the major engine manufacturers already have an array of solutions on the market. The coming Tier 4 interim/Stage IIIB legislation will be tougher still and most firms are well in hand with their plans to use both in-cylinder and exhaust after-treatment technology. While engines themselves are staying b

In Mexico the contractor Ideal has been awarded a package of highway and road works worth a total of US$667 million in all.

Aquajet Systems says that its latest hydrodemolition robot offers greater versatility due to its dual-power feature. The machine can be switched easily between diesel and electric drive, with the latter option suiting use in built-up urban areas or enclosed workzones.

Atlas Copco's lightweight XAS87Kd compressor has been designed to meet the needs of the European construction and construction rental industries. Weighing under 750kg, the trailer-mounted unit is easy to transport and can be towed behind a vehicle by and holder of a standard driving license in most European countries.

Productive highway line marking removal is possible with the new Starjet-Plus model from NLB. Featuring a novel water jet system, this machine helps contractors remove more pavement marking or runway rubber/shift than before. This is said to be the first high-pressure water jet system featuring on-board filtration, allowing users to fill the water tank once and work all day without stopping to refill.