Finance & Funding

Up to 15 public-private partnerships are likely to be underway in Romania by the end of the year, according to the government. Included will be the Sudului, Ploesti-Brasov and Targu Neamt-Iasi-Ungheni motorways. A tender will be launched for the Danube-Bucharest corridor, which will be carried out in partnership with the state. These highway projects were among a list of strategic PPP projects that the government published in May. Other projects included a large medical complex near the capital Buchar

A consortium of PRKiI Trakcja and Mostostal Warszawa has signed a contract for construction of an S61 dual carriageway section between the Elk Poludnie to and Wysokie junctions. The work, costing around €159 million, is scheduled for completion in June 2021. The S61 expressway will, when finished, run south from the Polish-Lithuanian border near Budzisko where it will connect with Lithuania’s A5 and intersect with the S8 near Ostrów Mazowiecka. It will also be part of the Via Baltica connecting the Ba

CEMEX is developing its presence in the concrete technology segment with a strategic investment. The firm’s CEMEX Ventures division is buying a stake in the specialist Concrete Sensors, a US firm that carries out real-time monitoring of concrete. Concrete Sensors uses real-time data from sensors, allowing contractors to accelerate their schedules through accurate real-time monitoring of temperature, relative humidity, and strength with any mix design of concrete. The firm uses embedded wireless sensors, com

Italy has seen steady growth in sales of construction machines during the first two quarters of 2018. During this period there were 6,389 units of construction machines sold in the Italian market. This is of note as it represents a 25% jump in sales over the same period for 2017. Of the machines sold, earthmoving equipment dominated, with 6,157 units, while there were also 232 road machines sold. The data has been released jointly by the Monitor of Foreign Trade of the Samoter Outlook, edited by Prometeia

India is continuing with its ambitious plans for road network development. A number of banks have given assurances that they will provide the necessary funding to pay for nearly US$19 billion of highway projects. The projects will be carried out under the engineering, procurement and construction model according to India’s Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. One of the plans under the wider road development programme is to develop India’s cross-border links with its neighbours. This calls for the const

Taiwan has set a US$4.6 billion budget for infrastructure development, with road transport works accounting for 25.8% of the financing.

Spain’s Acciona, working with Leonhard Nilsen & Sonner and Multiconsult, has picked up a €420 million contract for construction of 23km of Norway’s E6 motorway. The work, between the towns of Ranheim and Vaernes, was awarded by state-owned motorway operator Nye Veier. It involves construction of a four-lane motorway section for vehicles travelling at a maximum speed of 110kph.

Bosnia’ public roads authority Autoceste FB&H has re-tendered for construction of 12km of the Pocitelj-Zvirovici part of the Corridor 5C motorway. The work, including the 945m Pocitelj Bridge, is worth around €100million with financing by the European Investment Bank (EIB). A previous tender was called in 2014 when the contract has been awarded to Strabag and Euroasfalt companies, in spite of better offers from Viadukt and Hering, according to media reports.

The Russian Ministry of Transport is setting out a major programme of transport infrastructure improvements, with a budget of US$175.56 billion being planned. Russia has 511,000km of regional and municipal roads at present, around 43% of the country's total network. The aim is to increase the percentage of roads with federal and municipal status to 50%, which will require around 40,000km of roads to be upgraded by 2024. The Russian Federal Government will give the regional authorities the necessary funding