Finance & Funding

Up to US$571 million (NZ$812 million) is being provided by the New Zealand Government to repair an earthquake damaged stretch of State Highway 1 (SH1). The section being repaired lies between Christchurch and Picton and was heavile damaged by the earthquake that struck in November 2016. A portion of the necessary repair work has already been carried out. Some additional funding will be provided by New Zealand’s National Land Transport Fund to pay for further road repair works to other coastal connections.

Brazil is planning a series of highway maintenance projects in a bid to tackle it serious backlog of works. Improvement works will be carried out on the BR 158, BR 163 and BR 364 highways, which have been prioritised for their importance to transport and the Brazilian economy. These routes run through Mato Grosso, Para and Rondonia states. A budget of nearly US$699 million has been set by transport infrastructure body DNIT for the highway upgrades. In all 11 projects will be carried out and the work will se

Work on a major road project in Ecuador now looks set to restart now that a financing package for the work has been determined. The Circunvalacion Norte ring road in the city of Cuenca is expected to cost US$520 million, with the plans calling for three lanes in either direction along a 6km section between Guangarucho and the Panamericana Norte motorway. The route will measure 50km in all and will be tolled, with the project now looking set to be carried out under a concession model. The project is not allo

Construction of a new expressway is intended to improve the connection between Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh and Vietnam’s capital, Ho Chi Minh City. This is the product of discussions between the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments. The project is expected to cost US$650 million and the new link will feature three lanes in either direction and will run alongside the existing Highway 22 in Vietnam and Highway 1 in Cambodia. The new route will feature a maximum speed of 120km/h and will stretch for 65km in

Funding is being provided for the construction of new tolled lanes on a highway close to Denver, Colorado. The funding will be provided by the US Federal Government in the form of a loan worth US$109 million. In all the project will cost $276 million, with the state providing the majority of the remaining funding required. The funding will be used to widen a 20km section of the route connecting Wadsworth Boulevard with Interstate 25. The widening work is expected to be complete by 2019 and is intended to he

Improved sales of construction machines have been seen in Italy in the first three months of 2017. In this period sales climbed 6% compared with the first quarter of 2016. There were 2,094 units sold in all, 2,005 items of earthmoving equipment and 89 road construction machines. “The market is growing but on a lower level compared to last year,” said Paolo Venturi, president of Unacea. He added that the sales of new generation machines that meet the latest emissions targets could help further reduce urban p

Tender problems are afflicting Taiwan’s Tamkang Bridge project. The recent tender process for the project has failed. This is now the third time the tender for the project has fallen through. A new tender process for the project will open shortly. With the tender process facing such issues, the project looks likely to be further delayed until after 2020. The country’s Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) has now increased the budget allocated to the project to nearly US$310 million in a bid to ensure the w