Road Structures

Chile’s congested capital Santiago is set to benefit from the construction of a key route that will help reduce journey times and improve traffic flow, particularly at peak periods. The tender process will open shortly for the Americo Vespucio Oriente (AVO) highway in Santiago, a 9.3km highway connection that will include the construction of a tunnel under the San Cristobal area.

A new bridge spanning the River Ntem will provide a link between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. The bridge will form part of the 159km Kribi-Campo-Bata road and its construction follows an agreement between the governments of the two neighbouring nations. Some 77km of the road is in Cameroon and 82km is in Equatorial Guinea. The entire road and bridge project is expected to boost trade and economic activity.

Pilosio has supplied a set of 18 MP high-capacity towers for the construction of a viaduct on the Bellinzona-Lugano section of the new trans-Alpine railway, due for completion by the end of 2014. The viaduct is divided into five sectors of varying distances, from 110m for the first to 100 for the second. Both were due to be completed this month. The third and fourth sectors will be 90m long, while the fifth will span 45m – forming a flyover across Strada Cantonale, which links Locarno and Bellinzona.

RMD Kwikform has supplied the Abigroup with a full range of formwork, shoring and edge protection equipment for all 25 bridges on the Kurri Kurri to Branxton section of the Hunter Expressway in New South Wales (NSW) Australia.

Guy Woodford looks at vital bridge construction, repair and inspection projects in China, Europe, North America and Australia The Heron Road Bridge in Ottawa, Ontario in Canada is a vital link within the City’s transport network, as it crosses the Rideau River, which divides the east and west parts of the City. Constructed in 1966-1967, the Heron Road Bridge is approximately 275m long and includes six lanes.

Plans are in hand in New Zealand for a massive programme of infrastructure works around the country’s largest city, Auckland. The New Zealand Government intends to invest some US$7.8 billion (NZ$10 billion), which will be spent on upgrading existing highway links and building the second Auckland Harbour Bridge. The existing Auckland Harbour Bridge sees heavy traffic flows at peak periods in particular and the new structure is necessary to reduce congestion and cut journey times. The programme of infrastruct

Bidding is strong for the contract to build and operate a key stretch of highway in Mexico in a project expected to cost some US$179 million. The Siglo XXI highway will be constructed in Morelos State in Mexico's Morelos state. The deal is for a 30 year concession for the 62km section of highway, which will connect Jantetelco with El Higuerón. The Spanish contractor Acciona is one of several firms preparing its bid for the project and the company is also interested in other Mexican infrastructure works, wit

A demolition contractor in the north of Bavaria recently used 200kg of explosives to demolish an old autobahn viaduct. Situated close to the town of Bad Kissingen and to the north of the city of Nuremberg, the 46 year old A7 viaduct had reached the end of its working life and a new structure had been built alongside in this scenic rural area. Pre-weakening work had been carried out using hydraulic breakers along with drilling the necessary blastholes, to ensure the supports and deck collapsed in a controlle

Allen Engineering Corporation (AEC) recently delivered a Model 6048 Bridge Deck Finisher to PCR Contractors to be used on the 11km-long Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway project in Canada. The US$1.4 billion highway infrastructure project is under construction in the Ontario municipalities of Windsor, LaSalle and Tecumseh. The Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway will carry car and truck traffic from Hwy 401 in Canada to a new crossing across the Detroit River to I-75 in Michigan. The works will improve traffic flow at Cana

A wealth of major road tunnel construction projects and significant cant ITS installations within existing key road tunnels have been recently completed or will soon be underway. Guy Woodford examines some of them. A state-of-the art Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) - the 10th largest ever to be built worldwide will be put to work later this year on New Zealand Transport Agency’s landmark Waterview Connection project in Auckland. The giant Herrenknecht-manufactured machine will be used to construct the twin 2.5