Tenders invited by 10th January, 2000 for construction of 1.2 km twin-tube road tunnel. Fax Agence Nationale des Autoroutes +213 253 0892. Sept 1999.Slow progress reported on the east-west highway. Out of 1,216 km, only 49 km have been built and open to traffic in ten years while 86 km are under construction. A 1.3 km tunnel is under build between Bouira and Aí¯n Cherikhi, on the Lakhdaria-Bouira section. It is a twin tunnel with three lanes for each tube, built at a cost of 3.7 billion dinars by a jv of Algerian contractor Cosider and Turkish company STFA. 14/02.Restricted call for tenders, extended deadline to 2nd April, 2007 for control and work supervision for the central and east sections of the east-west highway, which will link the Tunisian and Moroccan borders. The 399 km east section includes five tunnels. The 169 km central section includes six tunnels. Visit www.mtp-dz.com/offres-marche.htm or contact Agence Nationale des Autoroutes, Division des programmes neufs (DPN), Palais des Expositions, Bloc administratif Mohammadia (ex-Lavigerie), El Harrach, Algiers. Fax +213 21210900. 13/07.The 399 east section of the east-west highway from the Tunisian to the Morrocan borders will be built by COJAAL, a Japanese consortium including Kajima, Taisei, Maeda, Nishimatsu, Hazama and Itochu. Their contract has a value of DZD376 billion. Visit www.kajima.co.jp/welcome.html, www.taisei.com, www.maeda.co.jp/index_e.html, www.nishimatsu.co.jp/eng, www.hazama.co.jp/english and www.itochu.co.jp/main/index_e.html 13/07.The 169 km central section will be built by a Chinese consortium including CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation) and CRCC (China Rail Construction Corporation). Their contract is worth DZD192 billion. Visit www.chinarailway.com.hk and www.citic.com 13/07.