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| Cowi to design Iraqi highway from Baghdad to Turkey  A road section of nearly 700 km from Baghdad to the Turkish border, including access roads to six regional cities, will improve infrastructure in devastated Iraq. The ambition is to construct a new trade route to Europe that bypasses the Suez Canal and allows goods to be transported from the Middle East and Asia to Europe on land.Over the next 20 weeks, Cowi will make a preliminary design and investigate the possible line track for a six-lane highway from Baghdad to Turkey, also called Expressway No. 2 - or just E2. The client is the State Corporation for Roads and Bridges which is part of the Iraqi Ministry for Construction and Housing. The first phase of the project is preliminary design and finding the optimum line track for the highway. The consultants must consider proprietary rights, artificial water channels, oil pipes, high tension cables, city planning, existing and planned railways and other traffic corridors. This work must be finalised by December 2012. Approval phase is then 3 to 6 months, after which Cowi starts aerial mapping and producing maps of the highway track. Reconstruction of the Silk Road Expressway No. 2 will link the southern and the northern part of Iraq. When the highway is finished, it will be the main traffic artery via the so-called "Dry Channel", connecting Europe, the Gulf and East Asia by road. The Dry Channel will be an alternative commercial route to the present trade route from the Middle East and Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal. Expressway no. 2 will be a natural extension of Expressway no. 1 going from Umm Al Qasr to Baghdad. According to Bloomberg News, Iraq plans to spend $ 9.8 billion on roads, bridges and housing by 2016. Photo: Google Maps write your comments about the article :: © 2012 Construction News :: home page |