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Plans are now in hand for Australia's US$223 million (A$240 million) project to upgrade Brisbane's Gateway Motorway. The work includes widening the Gateway Motorway from four to six lanes.

ISO-certified excavator ROPS cabs are coming for excavators. Mark Cherrington writes. It has been a long time coming, but certified ROPS cabs on excavators are now a reality. This follows the release of an international ISO standard that sets out laboratory tests and performance requirements for protective structures on excavators weighing from 6 - 50tonnes. In addition, an update to the EU's Machinery Safety Directive (MSD) took effect at the end of 2009 and brought in a number of changes, including a requ

The road linking Uganda with Sudan is being rebuilt with loans coming from the Japanese Government and the US-based World Bank. The cost of improving the road between Gulu and Atiak in Uganda and Nimule in Sudan is expected to be around US$245 million.

An ambitious plan to boost transport infrastructure in Africa is being unveiled at the inaugural Africa Roads & Rail Infrastructure Summit 2010 is being held in Kigali, Rwanda from 22nd-23rd April. International transport specialists will focus on the region along with key decision makers from African governments, the World Bank and economic communities.

Hidromek believes its HMK102B backhoe loader will be a “major attraction” at Intermat 2012. The company, headquartered in Ankara, Turkey, says the HMK102B is the result of long studies, customer interviews and market research.

Investment in China and India continues unabated, but other nations on the continent are eager to attract companies as Patrick Smith reports Asia is still booming despite the current economic crisis, and new infrastructure programmes are constantly coming on stream. Powerhouses China and India, with their double-digit growth figures and huge infrastructure plans (in scope and cost), are leading the way and are still magnets for businesses wishing to expand, both in terms of facilities and customers. But oth

Colombia's Ministry of Transport is suggesting that the Avenida Longitudinal de Occidente (ALO) road project in Bogota should be carried out by Colombian energy company Empresa de Energia de Bogota (EEB).

The innovative LABEL project lays the foundations for reducing cargo theft and promoting greater transport security on Europe's road networks. In Europe, cargo theft is a criminal phenomenon that has an important economic impact. Research has put the total loss caused at approximately €8.2 billion yearly. The calculation includes costs such as the re-production and the re-packaging and resending of the stolen goods. According to data from the International Road Transport Union (IRU), one out of six drivers

The UAE Government is planning improvements to the Emirates Road in Sharjah, work which is expected to cost over US$231 million.

China Hosts Major International Convention on Rural Roads. Given the crucial importance of rural roads in the global development context, IRF is according the issue priority focus this year by co-hosting its 2nd International Convention on Rural Roads. This will be convened in Jinan City, Shandong, China, from 26-29 October 2010, in association with the global Transport Knowledge Partnership (gTKP) and the China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS). Following the landmark success of the inaugural IRF g

For the past two decades, road safety advocates have faced an uphill battle of convincing governments of the very real epidemic of road fatalities and to invest resources to combat the carnage. And after several years of awareness campaigns, most, if not all, public road officials now agree that the world's roads must be safer.

Honduras intends to spend US$400 million on upgrading its road network. The World Bank will provide $110 million

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.

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.

Soft engineering techniques, used to prevent soil erosion and stabilise steep cuts and embankments, have allowed engineers to successfully widen the M1 motorway in the UK. Over the 50km length of the work (25km northbound, 25km southbound) on a busy section of the motorway near the city of Nottingham, a total of 48km of slopes had to be modified, split roughly between cutting and embankment. The UK Highways Agency requirements for the work meant that wholesale widening of the corridor was not possible: the

The International Road Federation (IRF), founded in 1948, is the only world forum advocating better and safer roads through better road design and construction bearing in mind the user. It is a unique institution that brings together members active in road infrastructure from both the private and public sectors.

The Hengqin New Area in China is to benefit from a new road infrastructure project. The China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) is investing US$1.85 billion in the project, which will see 52km of main roads and 64km of secondary roads being built, as well as 53km of landscaping.

Concerns over range remain a major challenge to take-up of electric vehicles (EVs) in coming years. However the introduction of telematics in EVs to provide point of interest and alerts packages to make drivers aware of charging facilities could resolve range anxiety.

Overweight vehicles cause enormous damage to road structures but they can be caught, even at high speed. Weigh-in-motion or WIM devices are designed to capture and record axle weights and gross vehicle weights as vehicles drive over a measurement site.

Tight deadlines, inclement weather, long travel times and inadequate tank capacity are a few of the challenges facing road marking contractors. But with the right equipment and careful planning, road marking contractors can optimise their investment and uptime, says Borum Industri. "Timing plays a key role in every road marking job. On new roads it is the last part of a project, and if there have been delays along the way, road marking contractors are under pressure to complete the job fast. On existing roa