Finance & Funding

China’s Guizhou Province establishes road expansion project

May 9, 2018

China’s Guizhou Province is setting out a massive budget for road expansion to boost access to rural areas. This will see the construction of some 50,000km of roads in 2018. In all US$3.15 billion is being spent on road development. So far 35,000km of road projects are underway in Guizhou Province with nearly 9,400km of road jobs already having been completed. By the end of the second quarter of 2018, all of the planned projects within this programme of works will be underway or complete.

Spanish government reduces motorway rescue cost

May 8, 2018

The Spanish government has calculated the cost of rescuing Spain's nine bankrupt motorways at €1.8 billion. This is about 10% less than previously estimated, according to a report in the Spanish financial newspaper Expansión. The government has been trying for the past three years to facilitate a deal with banks to get the motorways out of debt and so to not add to the state’s own debt. Many of the nine projects were built prior to the financial crisis and traffic volumes were optimistically high.

Trans-Sahara highway upgrade project complete

May 8, 2018

Work has now been completed on Algeria’s upgrade of its 1,600km of the Trans-Sahara highway route.

California highway upgrades

May 8, 2018

A series of highway upgrades are being planned for the Bay Area in northern California, with the necessary state financing now being secured. Interstate 101 is to benefit from the construction of additional tolled lanes in a project costing US$233 million, which is expected to help cut congestion along one of the busiest sections of the route through the Bay Area. A project costing $85 million will also be carried out in I-101 close to Novato. Meanwhile road works costing $730 million will be carried out

Paraguay’s road development work to be funded?

May 8, 2018

A budget of US$1.2 billion will help pay for road development in Paraguay’s Chaco Region. Two of the most important road projects for the Chaco Region are the Transchaco road and the bi-oceanic highway. These projects will cost $560 million and $640 million respectively.

Bangladesh bridge building budget insufficient?

May 8, 2018

The budget for Bangladesh’s Padma Bridge project may have to be increased. A further US$168.7 million has been requested for the project by the Ministry of Road Transport & Bridges. This additional funding would help pay for additional land on which dredged materials could be tipped. However, Bangladesh’s Implementation, Monitoring & Evaluation Division is opposing the call for extra funds.

Road repair costs increase for German project

May 4, 2018

Rebuilding a stretch of the A20 Autobahn in Germany is now costing more than originally expected. The work to upgrade the A20 in the North East of the country had a budget of €100 million when planned. However the cost of the work has increased considerably.

CEA conference 2018 – focusing on technology solutions

May 2, 2018

New technology and reduced machine emissions were amongst the key topics at the CEA conference in London - Mike Woof writes. Construction machine manufacturers are going to have to find new solutions if targets on emissions controls are going to be met. This is a clear viewpoint for the industry. But as the speakers at the recent CEA conference in London showed, there are differing opinions on how that will be achieved and what technical solutions will come to the fore. Duncan Riding, business development

Julián Núñez, head of ASECAP offers a little Spanish enlightenment

May 1, 2018

Julián Núñez, president of ASECAP, gets his teeth into the vision of a European strategy for toll roads. David Arminas reports from Madrid Getting European politicians to agree to a long-term cross-border highway infrastructure programme for toll roads is extremely difficult. It’s a bit like pulling teeth. People want to avoid the pain. This is perhaps a bad analogy to use in the case of Julián Núñez, president of ASECAP - European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures. Núñez had just sat

Australia highway project funding found

April 30, 2018

Funding has been secured to pay for the Gympie bypass project in Queensland, Australia. The 26km project is expected to cost US$ 767.4 million (A$1 billion) in all. The Australian Government will provide 80% of the funding required, with the remaining 20% being provide by Queensland State’s budget. This section of road will extend the Bruce Highway and is intended to cut congestion in the area.