Finance & Funding

Romania’s Government is evaluating plans for a new bridge project, which would span the River Danube. The project has an estimated cost of nearly €440 million. The tender process is being opened by the Romanian National Agency for the Administration of Road Infrastructure (CNAIR). The bridge would be constructed in Romania’s Dobrogea Region. Funding looks likely to be provided, in part at least, by EU grants. As the Dobrogea Region is the location for the Danube Delta area where the river finally meets the

A budget of US$400.5 million is being set for a series of road improvements in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region (Volga) during 2017. The funding will be directed towards repairs and maintenance for roads in the area. The programme of works calls for improvements to be carried out to 115km of roads that have been identified as being in unsatisfactory condition. In all 400,000m3 of asphalt will be used for the road upgrades. Meanwhile specific projects to be carried out include the construction of a second bri

Funding for improvements to a major road connection between Kenya and Uganda will be provided by the African Development Bank (AfDB). In all US$253 of financing will be provided for the road improvement work to the 118km stretch of road. The Kenyan side of the project will receive funding worth $147 million while the Ugandan side will receive $106 million. This will pay for close to 90% of the costs associated with the project, with the remainder being paid for by the Kenyan Government and the Ugandan Gover

Construction work for the Agua Negra tunnel connecting Argentina with Chile is expected to take nine years to complete. The actual construction work will commence in 2019, although considerable activity will be required beforehand. Building the tunnel is expected to cost in the orders of US$1.5 billion. Much of the financing for the project is being provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). So far the IADB has given $20 million to Argentina and a further $20 million to Chile to pay for the nec

Four more US states are set to increase fuel taxes to support new transportation investments, According to a new report from the American Road Transport Builders Association (ARTBA). This new analysis shows little political fallout from fuel tax rises for transport development. And 91% of legislators who supported an increased fuel tax were re-elected during the next general election; while 98 % of lawmakers won their 2016 primary race. This was an examination of more than 2,500 state legislators from 16 st

The acquisition of Atkins by SNC-Lavalin has been unanimously approved by the boards of both global infrastructure providers for around US$2.7 billion. During the first full financial year of the merger group around $90 million of cost synergies is expected to be saved. The deal is still subject to regulatory and Atkins shareholder approval, likely to be given in the third quarter of this year. Atkins, based in London, brings around 18,300 employees to the group and expands SNC-Lavalin's geographic reach be

Caterpillar is reporting a strong financial performance for its first quarter results for 2017. The company has revealed higher year-over-year sales and revenues for first time in 10 quarters. The first-quarter sales and revenues were up from 2016, while the firm saw an outstanding operational performance in this period. The full-year sales and revenues outlook meanwhile has been raised to a range of US$38 billion to $41 billion.

The Austrian publicly listed construction group Strabag posted a record year 2016, with an order backlog at a record-high of €14.8 billion. Thomas Birtel, chief executive of Strabag, said that 2016 was a “satisfactory and eventful” year for the company. “We managed to acquire the minority interest in our subsidiary [civil engineering company] Ed Züblin in Stuttgart and of the remaining stake in Raiffeisen evolution, now called Strabag Real Estate.” Both companies are now wholly owned by Strabag. Consolidate

Deutz has announced promising preliminary results for the first quarter of 2017. The firm claims a successful start to the 2017 financial year, with a marked increase in new orders and revenue, as well as an improved operating profit. New orders hit €403.2 million, a 23.2% increase on the first three months of last year when the figure was €327.3 million. In addition, the performance represents a 23.6% gain over the fourth quarter of 2016 when the figure was €326.1 million. At 37,153 engines, unit sales wer

A series of transport projects will help boost the struggling economy of Somalia.