Finance & Funding

A loan worth US$629 million will help pay for a highway upgrade for the I-405 route in Orange County, California. The stretch of I-405 connects with Costa Mesa, on the southern side of Los Angeles. The federal loan is being provided by the US Department of Transportation to the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). The work is to upgrade a 22.4km stretch of I-405 between its junction with the I-605 Interstate, close to Rossmoor, and the SR 73 route at Costa Mesa, which connects with the nearby John

Japanese financing will help pay for new bridges in Nicaragua. The funding package is worth nearly US$43 million and is being provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The four bridge will be constructed on the road that connects Rio Blanco and Siuna in Nicaragua’s North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCN). The agreement has been settled between JICA and the Nicaraguan Government. The new bridges will help improve connections between the Pacific Coast Coast and the Caribbean Coast

Compact machine specialist Wacker Neuson says that its financial results show a strong second quarter for 2017 as well as an improved outlook for 2017 as a whole. The firm says that profitability improved and has now raised its revenue forecast for the current fiscal year. The Wacker Neuson Group reported record revenue of €425.2 million for the second quarter of 2017, compared with €381.4 million for the same period in 2016. At €46.7 million, profit before interest and tax (EBIT) jumped a healthy 41 % comp

Argentina intends to develop its road network with the construction of new highways. These projects will be handled under the PPP model, with international investment being encouraged by the Argentinian Government. A series of tenders will open during October 2017 while construction work on the projects is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2018. The nine projects going to tender will be worth a total of US$5.61 billion, although additional works may be announced in due course.

Bidding has been strong for a major tunnel project in India. The project, to construct the Zojila Tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir, is expected to cost in the order of US$1.56 billion. A low bid for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Zojila tunnel project was received from IL&FS Transportation Networks (ITNL). Other bids came from Reliance Infrastructure, Jaiprakash Associates, and Larsen & Toubro. The bidding process for the project has been managed by India’s National Highways &

Work is underway for two key tunnel sections on Serbia’s section of the Corridor 10 project, which forms the country’s stretch of the E-75 highway route. The 1.8km Manajle Tunnel is the longest of several to be built for the Corridor 10 project and features twin tubes that run between 30 and 35m apart. The Predajane Tunnel is 1.1km long, again with twin tubes and in its case, these run from 35-65m apart. A Bulgarian contractor, Consortium Alliance X, is building the Manajle Tunnel, with the work valued at a

Global US infrastructure firm Jacobs Engineering Group and one of its main rivals, CH2M, are to merge under a US$3.27 billion deal. In a written statement, Jacobs said it will acquire all of the outstanding shares of CH2M in a cash and stock transaction, including around $416 million of CH2M debt. CH2M had global revenue in the past 12 months of around $4.4 billion and about 20,000 employees. Its contracts are in the water, transportation, environmental and nuclear sectors.

German diesel engine maker DEUTZ is reporting strong half-year results, which it says will help the firm to invest in research and development into future powertrain solutions. The company says it has seen a marked increase in new orders and revenue as well as a significant improvement in free cash flow, while it has also benefited substantially from the sale of its former manufacturing site in Cologne. The company says that new orders in the DEUTZ Group increased by 18.6% to €803 million for the half-year,

German diesel engine maker DEUTZ is reporting strong half-year results, which it says will help the firm to invest in research and development into future powertrain solutions. The company says it has seen a marked increase in new orders and revenue as well as a significant improvement in free cash flow, while it has also benefited substantially from the sale of its former manufacturing site in Cologne. The company says that new orders in the DEUTZ Group increased by 18.6% to €803 million for the half-year,