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Construction work on the upgrade of the road connecting Calabar with Itu and Ikot Ekpene in South East Nigeria has once again ground to a halt. The contractor carrying out the work, Julius Berger, has transferred personnel and equipment to other projects. This action has been taken due to a delay in payments for the work to the contractor. The road is now in extremely poor condition, which is a key problem for transport between Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State. Much of the road is now said to be virt

The contract for Paraguay’s US$130 million Costanera Sur avenue project has now been awarded. Located in Asuncion, the road project will be handled by a consortium headed by the Spanish contractor Eurofinsa, and also including the Paraguayan firm Ingenieria de Topografia y Caminos. The 8.3km road link will features two lanes in either direction and will run alongside the Paraguay River. Included in the project will be the construction of three bridges.

A new tolled bridge link is planned for Indonesia’s East Kalimantan. The tender process is opening for the North Penajam Paser-Balikpapan toll bridge project. Building the bridge is expected to cost in the order of US$1.02 billion. The structure and the road connections needed will be around 7.35km long. Building the bridge will cut journey times between Balikpapan and North Panajam from as much as 120 minutes at present to just 10 minutes when the structure is complete.

A Canadian firm is taking over three highways in India from Essel Highways. The US$472.8 million deal is for the the Essel Devanahalli Tollway in Karnataka state, the Lebad-Jaora highway in Madhya Pradesh and Essel Dichpally Tollway in Telangana. The Canadian company is Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ)

A new bridge project costing nearly US$756 million has been proposed for Brazil.

A Chinese contractor is expressing interest in building a major bridge connection in Bangladesh.

A contractor is now being sought for the UK’s Stonehenge Tunnel project. The work involves building a new tunnel and new stretch of dual carriageway, moving the busy A303 route away from the Stonehenge monument.

Funding is now secured for the Budimir-Bidovce stretch of Slovakia’s D1 highway project. In addition, the funding for the Kosicke Olsany-Hrasovik stretch of the R2-R4 expressway has been secured. The EU’s Cohesion Fund will supply €173 million for the work, which is intended to cut congestion and journey times. New interchanges and noise reduction systems will be built. Also included will be the construction of 23 new bridges.

According to research, the states of Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, Louisiana and Texas offer the best safety for young drivers in the US. At the other end of the scale Wyoming has the worst record for crashes involving young drivers, followed closely by South Dakota and then Missouri. Arizona, Montana and North Dakota also have poor records for safety amongst younger drivers.

The New Zealand Government is setting out a new plan to reduce the country’s road casualty rate. This has the aim of reducing the road death rate by 560 over the next 10 years. The plan would also cut serious injuries by 5,600 over the same period. The New Zealand Government intends to implement the Vision Zero Programme. Better enforcement, new and better facilities for pedestrians and cyclists and safer vehicles are all included in the plans.

As many as 25,000 bridges in France are considered in poor condition according to research. In a bid to tackle the problem, there have been calls for an annual budget of €120 million for the next 10 years to improve bridge condition. There are an estimated 200,000-250,000 bridges in France. An additional fund of €130 million/year is proposed to tackle the problem of ageing tunnels in France.

Bosnia is investigating a series of road financing solutions. The country intends to borrow €150 million to construct the Corridor 5C highway project. A loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is expected to provide much of the financing required, however the terms have still to be finalised.

The proposed Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link project in Sydney, Australia is coming in for renewed focus. Financing institutions are being invited by the New South Wales State Government to enter discussions over providing backing for the project. The new route will be one of the largest motorway construction projects for Australia should it get the go ahead. The work could cost US$9.9 billion (A$14 billion).

Astec Industries has appointed Barry Ruffalo as its president and chief executive officer, effective on August 12th, 2019. Ruffalo has also been elected to the board of directors. He will join the board of directors as a Class I director and will stand for re-election at the Company’s 2020 annual meeting. On the effective date of Ruffalo’s appointment, Richard Dorris, interim chief executive officer, will resume his role as chief operating officer. Prior to his appointment, Ruffalo was employed by Valmont

The tender process for Colombia’s Buga-Buenaventura fourth generation (4G) toll road project is being planned. The tender for the 114.1km dual carriageway is being handled in two separate stretches however. One of the road stretches will be for a 55.4km section from Buga to Loboguerrero, which is expected to cost US$359.45 million. The 58.7km stretch from Loboguerrero to Buenaventura meanwhile is expected to cost $362.75 million. The Loboguerrero to Buenaventura section of the route includes building a 19km

A finance package has been secured for Colombia’s Pasto-Rumichaca fourth generation (4G) road project. A loan package worth US$$593.6 million from a series of backers will underscore the project. These are; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Spain's credit institute Instituto de Credito Oficial (ICO), JP Morgan, MetLife, Banco Santander, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Credit Agricole, and Bank of China. The project is for work to an 83km section of the route, incl

The UK firm Amey Consulting is working on two innovative projects utilising smart technology to improve air quality around major A roads and motorways.

The UK’s Department for Transport is providing £348 million of funding to help improve local roads over the next four years. This funding will be available for local authorities to bid for, allowing them to work on major maintenance projects, as well as on projects that will ease congestion on the UK’s busiest roads. This announcement follows a £6.6 billion investment in local road maintenance in the last five years The funding will be available in two stages for local authorities to bid for in an effort t

Chinese companies look likely to play key roles in major expressway construction projects in Thailand. The Rama III-Dao Khanong-Western Bangkok Outer Ring Expressway project is being handled in four separate sections, with the deals being finalised in September 2019. Major Chinese contractors are amongest the leading bidders for three of the four sections.

A new agreement has been reached that will foster more cooperation and collaboration with regard to engineering at an international level. The International engineering federation FIDIC (the International Federation of Consulting Engineers) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the China International Contractors Association (CHINCA). This move is intended to improve collaboration between international and Chinese businesses, facilitate skills and knowledge transfer and increase the unders