Road Structures

The Bauer subsidiary MAT Mischanlagentechnik, known for microtunneling technology, has entered the large-diameter tunnelling market with its BE-2550 separating plant in Switzerland. The double-track Eppenberg tunnel in the Swiss canton of Solothurn is about 2.6 km long and is one of the busiest railway routes in Switzerland. Since November 2016, a 2,400tonne tunnel boring machine measuring around 115m long and 12.75m in diameter has been drilling through the mountain. The machine has been operating in the

A Sheffield bridge with a history dating back to the 17th century has been strengthened, repaired and restored by Amey. Newhall Road bridge over the River Don is one of 240 road bridges and culverts in Sheffield to be given a new lease of life thanks to investment linked to Sheffield City’s €2.5 billion Streets Ahead highway maintenance contract.

Professional services company Turner & Townsend has been appointed to provide commercial services for two major Highways England programmes, including its flagship A303 Stonehenge scheme. The A303 upgrade includes plans to build a road tunnel near Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument in western England believed to have been built around 3,100 BC. The road project is part of a series of planned upgrades to A303/A358 corridor to improve connectivity between the south east and south west of England. The

Croatia’s public procurement body has rejected complaints by all three international consortia over a winning low tender for the Peljeski bridge. Bids for construction of the four-lane 2.4km bridge were submitted in the middle of last year. The bridge will connect Croatian territory by traversing the Adriatic Sea’s Mali Ston Bay. Vehicles must currently head from Croatia into Bosnia to re-enter a peninsula that is Croatian territory. Croatia’s State Commission for Control of Public Ordering Processes

Work is close to completion for the Kazungula Bridge, which will span the Zambezi River and connect Zambia and Botswana.

Construction work has restarted for Mexico’s Oaxaca-Ventanilla-Huatulco road project. The project has been delayed for around 10 years and is expected to cost around US$189 million to carry out. The new highway will connect Oaxaca with Ventanilla and Huatulco.

A major toll road development programme in Indonesia will see nearly 70km of new links opening by 2023. The programme is worth US$2.99 billion and has been pushed forward by Jakarta Tollroad Development (JTD). Around 50% of the planned links are already complete.

Mexico’s Puebla State has a road infrastructure plan under development. In all the work is expected to cost US$612.6 million, with the schedule seeing construction carried out from 2018-2019. The planned works include the La Galarza-Amatitlanes bypass, which will connect Puebla and Morelos. and a distributor road at Periferico Ecologico ring road. Work is being carried out on a 13.5km elevated road forming part of the Puebla to Mexico highway. Plans have been drawn up for upgrades to the road connecting

Work will commence on the Nairobi-Mombasa expressway in mid-2018. The new highway will help develop Kenya’s economy by providing an improved highway connection between the country’s capital and its premier port. The 473km-long highway connection will be built by Bechtel and has a projected cost of US$3 billion. Bechtel is sourcing the necessary financing and will also have the concession to operate the highway link. Journey times should be halved along the route with the opening of the highway.

A UK contractor has revamped its training to help employees avoid damaging utilities, not to mention suffering injury or loss of life, when digging. Eurovia and Ringway have set up Safe Dig Training designed to reduce underground service strikes. Strikes can occur when the ground is disturbed through works preparations, erecting site signage and repaving or resurfacing work. The safe dig areas have been built in strategic depots across England as part of the training to assess competency following a servic