Road Structures

Work is now underway on the second section of a new tunnel project in the Polish city of Gdansk. The tunnel runs underneath the Martwa Wisla River. The project is of note as it is the first time a TBM has been used to drive a tunnel in Poland. The tunnel will feature twin tubes, each measuring 1.07km long. The tunnel forms part of the Trasa Slowackiego project and is worth some €210 million.

The Oman Government has awarded a major road upgrade project to Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro. The 76km project is worth just over US$249 million. The route is at present a two lane road and will be widened between the towns of Bidbid and Sur. The work includes building 10 interchanges, seven pedestrian underpasses and five underpasses for vehicles. It also includes building service roads.

From Colombia comes news of a US$13.4 billion funding package that will be directed towards the construction of nine highway projects. This package of works includes construction and concessions for a series of highways, which will be carried out under the PPP model. These include the Conexión Norte, Autopista al Río Magdalena 1, Autopista al Río Magdalena 2, Autopista al Mar 1 and Autopista al Mar 2. They also include the Autopista Conexión Pacífico 1, Autopista Conexión Pacífico 2 and Autopista Conexión P

Atkins is working on major contracts in Texas and Florida for tolling and design and build services respectively. In Texas the Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reselected Atkins as its state-wide prime consultant for toll-plaza planning, development, and implementation. Under the terms of the five-year, $10 million contract, Atkins is providing planning, development, infrastructure design and coordination, and construction oversight services, as well as system installation, integration, and testing serv

In Portugal work is restarting on the stalled Marao tunnel project. The Portuguese Government has assured financing from the EU to complete the necessary work for the 5.7km tunnel. The contractor working on the project originally hit financial problems, resulting in the work grinding to a halt and the Portuguese Government cancelling the contract with the original concession holder. The cost of the project has estimated at €204 million and the EU may finance up to €200 million of this. The package of works

Plans are in hand for a new highway connection between Myanmar and China. The governments of the two countries have been discussing the possibility of the Myanmar-China Corridor. This route would run from Ruili in China to Kyaukphyu in Myanmar. The work is likely to be carried out under the PPP model, with a build, operate, transfer package for the winning tender. The first stage of the project will commence during 2014.

New road links are planned to connect Slovakia and its neighbour, the Czech Republic. The Slovak Ministry of Transport stated that by 2020 two new routes are planned to link the countries. The R6 expressway will run from Puchov in Slovakia and connect the Trencin region with Zlin in the Czech Republic. Meanwhile the R5 expressway will run from Svrcinovec in Slovakia and link the country’s Zilina regions with the Morava-Sliezsko region in the Czech Republic. Construction for the R6 project is expected to sta

Morocco’s road expansion programme is proving successful and meeting targets. At the end of 2013, the country had some 730km of expressways in service. The building programme continues and by 2016, the authorities hope to extend this to 1,600km. However a study into the possibility of creating expressways between industrial zones and logistics platforms now has to be carried out to help deliver the road expansion targets. One option is for building expressways that run in parallel with highways to link two

Two of China’s provinces, Shanxi and Sichuan, have announced plans to invest in infrastructure expansion. Shanxi Province has plans to invest US$3.44 billion in road construction projects during 2014. Seven new highway projects with a total length exceeding 375km will commence in the year. At the same time, 13 projects totalling 842.6km will be completed and open for traffic. Meanwhile in Sichuan Province, some US$11.56 billion will be spent on road projects during 2014. Rural roads measuring 15,000km will

In Macedonia work is now being carried out on two new highway projects. One project is for the construction of a 57km highway between Kiceva and Ohrid and the work is expected to cost €375 million. The construction work is being carried out by the Chinese contractor Sinohydro Corporation, with finance coming from China's Ex-Im Bank. The Kiceva-Ohrid highway project is expected to take four years to complete. The same contractor is also building the 47km Miladinovci-Stip highway in Macedonia, with the €206 m