Road Structures

Work on the new 218.5-kilometre Mianyang-Jiuzhaigou Expressway in Sichuan province, China is expected to begin later this year. Upon completion of the US$4.91 billion (CNY 30.58 billion) megaproject, the travel time from Chengdu city in the province to Jiuzhaigou via the expressway will take only 210 minutes. The expressway is expected to be completed within 60 months and is scheduled to be operational no later than 31 December 2018. Meanwhile, construction of the Ziyuan-Xing'an highway has fully started.

Brazil's São Paulo state is due to call a tender by March 28 2014 to concession its Tamoios highway, a government official is reported to have told regional media. "Governor Geraldo Alckmin will be officially announcing the launch of the tender next week [Mar 24-28]," the official said last week without giving further details. Budgeted at US$1.61 billion (BRL 3.74 billion), the concession involves operating and maintaining the Planalto and Serra stretches of the Tamoios highway, also known as SP-99, which

The Ministry of Transport and Public Works in Ecuador (MTOP) has announced that a Chinese loan of US$367 million will fund the restoration of the Catamayo-Gonzanama-Sozoranga-Macara and Celica-Cruzpamba-Y del Muerto roads.

The best option for a bridge or tunnel to connect the Taman Peninsula in Russia with the Crimea Peninsula across the Kerch Strait will be chosen by the end of 2014. According to Russia's Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov, the feasibility study will focus on several options, including a road bridge, a road-rail bridge and a tunnel project. According to Deputy Transport Minister Sergey Aristov, the construction cost estimated at US$3 billion is within the agreed budget. It may be implemented via a public-pri

Slovak national motorway company NDS plans to start the reconstruction and modernisation of the D1 motorway section between Bratislava and Trnava in H2 2014. As part of the near €150 million project, the current six-lane motorway will be extended by adding an emergency lane. The building works are expected to last 24 months and will include demolition and reconstruction of some of the existing road bridges, as well as construction of new ones. The motorway lanes will be extended from the current 3.5m to 3.

A road and underwater tunnel project linking Dachanwan Tollgate with Yueliangwan Boulevard in Shenzhen city, China will be completed in 2015. Shenzhen's first underwater tunnel will cost around US$403.04 million (CNY 2.49 billion) to build (EUR 289.41mn USD 403.04mn). It will span 1.3km in Qinghai Bay. As part of the project, renovations will be conducted on a section of Yueliangwan Boulevard. The renovation works on the 4.4km highway section are scheduled for completion in July 2014.

The authorities in Paraguay are planning a bridge project that will improve connections in its border area with neighbouring Argentina. The project forms part of a US$170 million plan for infrastructure projects in the border area between Argentina and Paraguay. Other works include a new port terminal in Pilar and improvements to the Alberdi-Pilar highway. The majority of the funding will be directed towards work on the Remanso Bridge and the road section that connects with the port of Falcon.

The European Union is to help finance studies for the northern border section of the Ionian Highway in Greece. Some €1.56 million is being provided through the TEN-T Programme to help pay for a series of studies required to prepare for the project’s tender process. The studies will cost some €3.12 million in all and related to a 46km stretch of highway connecting the Egnatia Odos-Ionian Highway interchange and Kakavia.The initiative was selected for funding under the 2012 TEN-T Annual Call and includes carr

Interest is said to be strong for a key highway project in Nepal. The project to build the US$1.02 billion Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track route has attracted interest from China in the shape of the China Infrastructure Investment Corporation (CIIC) and from India with Reliance Infrastructure, and Shapoorji Pallonji. The 76km highway will commence at Khokana and connect capital Kathmandu with Nijgadh. Should CIIC win the deal it has said it will source funding from China’s Exim Bank. The project has been hit by

The Mexican authorities have set out further details on the country’s ongoing infrastructure development plans. Mexico's Transport and Communications Secretariat (SCT) will commence the call for proposals process for highway projects worth a total of US$2.11 billion. The projects include the Paso Express de Cuernavaca, Tuxpan-Tampico highway, Ciudad Obrego by-pass and Barretal by-pass. They also include widening the Tlalpan and Puebla routes. Around $4.366 billion will be invested in roads in Mexico during