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The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and other agencies involved in the US$4.25 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge have pledged millions of dollars in community support. WDBA, contractor Bridging North America, the US state of Michigan and the federal Canadian government announced the support plan, which involves more than 30 agencies and organisations, according to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The plan includes a $15 million Neighbourhood Infrastructure Strategy for both s

Road widening work will be carried out in the Australian state of Queensland as part of the Gateway Motorway project. A budget of US$141 million (A$200 million) has been set for the work by the Queensland State Government. Meanwhile the Australian Federal Government will contribute from $564 million to $705 million (A$800 million to A$1 billion) for the project. This latest stage of the massive Gateway Motorway project involves widening the stretch of the route between Bracken Ridge and the Bruce State High

The latest research reveals that the use of hands-free phone systems is just as dangerous as driving drunk. The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has carried out extensive research into the use of cellphones by drivers. Moves to improve road safety in the UK have seen a reduction in the casualty rate, with a notable drop in the 2007-2012 period. However in the last five years, there has been minimal progress, with the UK’s road casualty figures remaining broadly static. There is particular concern

Romania’s transport ministry says it plans to build animal crossings over the A1 motorway between Lugoj and Deva in the west of the country. The crossings will be over a 9km section of the A1 and cost around €180 million, said Razvan Cuc, the transport minister. nTenders will be issued for both the design and construction with work to start by the end of the summer. When completed, likely by the end of this year, the A1 will be 576km long and run across Romania in a south-east to north-west direction.

France’s Transport Ministry has chosen construction and concessions group Eiffage as the single prospective concessionaire for the project to complete the Route Centre-Europe Atlantique. The east-west RCEA is considered to be one of the most dangerous routes in France, according to government statistics. Some sections of the route, also called the Route Nationale 79, has been upgraded into a four-lane motorway over the past several decades. The plan is make the remaining two-lane sections into four-lanes

Additional financing is required to help progress work on Thailand’s Bang Yai-Kanchanaburi highway project. An extra US$244 million is needed to push ahead with the work, which has been delayed due to problems in buying land. A key issue is that land costs have doubled in the area since the project was first approved by the Government of Thailand. Just 25% of the land required has so far been purchased.

New developments in asphalt plant technology are offering better cost efficiency and materials quality for the industry

The next generation of highways will be a matrix of smart, intelligent and dynamic technologies that lower maintenance costs and ensure user safety. But challenges lie ahead, as Geoff Hadwick discovered in Dubrovnik The fifth-generation road is about to provide the world’s highway authorities with a big leap forward. This “forever-open”, self-healing road will integrate innovation into infrastructure, vehicles and entire intelligent transport systems, says Adewole Adesiyun, deputy secretary general of

New developments in asphalt compaction offer performance gains for contractors, with future innovations being unveiled – Mike Woof writes Advanced asphalt compactors are offering huge gains in performance over previous generation machines. Better working quality and finish is claimed for the latest machines, while future developments will offer sophisticated solutions. The new ARX 91 articulated tandem roller from Ammann is designed as a high productivity compactor that can be used on both thin and t

The 12th ASECAP Annual Road Safety Conference organised at the European Parliament in Brussels on 18th March set the scene for the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the International Road Federation (Geneva, Switzerland) and the European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures (ASECAP) aiming at further strengthening the collaboration between the two organisations. Signed by Anouar Benazzouz, Vice President of IRF, Susanna Zammataro, Director General of IRF, Bill Halkias, P

A new report suggests key strategies to cut road deaths and injuries in Latin America. The report was commissioned by Bloomberg Philanthropies and shows that more than 25,000 Latin American lives could be saved and over 170,000 serious injuries prevented by 2030 if United Nations (UN) vehicle safety regulations were applied by four key countries in the region—Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Brazil. The report was prepared by the UK-based Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). The aim of the study was to estimat

The Canadian province of Ontario has earmarked around US$1 billion for road repairs and upgrades during 2019. The money is for 123 projects of which around $384 million will go to 20 projects in central Ontario. Northeastern Ontario will receive $218 million for 32 highway projects, mostly along Highway 11 – at nearly 1,800km the second longest in Ontario, Canada’s mostly populous province. Highway 11 runs from the provincial capital Toronto northwards and then westwards to the border with Manitoba pr

Hundreds of lives lost. More than 8,000 people stuck overnight in a flooded airport in Japan in the wake of a typhoon in 2018. Nearly 800% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Dutch island of St. Maarten (and 600% of the GDP of the French half, St. Martin) wiped out during the 2017 hurricane season, which devastated many Caribbean island economies, with over $5.4 billion in losses reported in Anguilla, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, St. Maarten, and Turks and Caicos Islands alone. Transportation in

Demolition of the Alaska Way Viaduct in the northwest US city of Seattle is underway, including the filling in of a redundant road tunnel.

A Polish-Hungarian consortium has signed a €44 million contract to construct a bridge over the Dunajec River near the southern Polish town of Nowy Sacz. Przedsiebiorstwo Wielobranzowe Banimex, from Poland, and Hungarian contractor Hodmezovasarhelyi Utepito Korlatolt Felelossegu will build the bridge within 25 months, according to Polish media reports. Nowy Sącz is at the confluence of the Kamienica and Dunajec rivers , about 20km north of the border with Slovakia and in the Sądecka Valley.

The authorities in Vietnam’s coastal Quang Ninh Province have set out a transport infrastructure development plan. The programme of works will prioritise development of the Van Don Economic Zone (Van Don EZ) under the plan. The programme of works involved is expected to be worth US$358 million. New roads are planned, along with new bridges to provide better connections to some of the many islands in the province. The existing Van Don Airport will also benefit from an upgrade to boost capacity. Quang N

Road works in the Philippines will benefit from funding being provided by Japan.

Funding worth US$500 million has still to be secured for road works in Paraguay. A consortium, Rutas del Este consortium, requires the financing to carry out the widening and upgrade work to Ruta 2 and Ruta 7. The work will be carried out under the PPP model, the first time this has been utilised in Paraguay. Rutas del Este comprises the contractors Sacyr and Ocho A. The consortium will operate the highway under a 30 year concession.

Work is underway on the M76 dual carriageway project in Hungary, with the first section due for completion in summer 2020. Building the 40km dual carriageway is costing over €523 million. The project includes building a bridge at Balatonszentgyorgy, which is due for completion shortly. When it opens to traffic, the M76 will connect the M7 motorway (the E71 route) with the M74 route at Zalaegerszeg.

The package of works to construct the Pocitelj-Zvirovici stretch of the Corridor VC motorway in Bosnia has been awarded to two Chinese contractors. The 11km stretch of the route will cost nearly €103 million to build. The work will be handled jointly by the Synohydro Power Company and China State Construction Engineering Company. The package of works was awarded by Bosnia’s motorway company, Autoceste Federacije BiH. A portion of the funding required is being provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB).