Finance & Funding

Financing has been found to pay for road upgrade projects in Ivory Coast. The Morocco-based banking business Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) will provide nearly US$183 million for improvement works to two stretches of highway. The funding will allow the Kokonou to Apprompronou road to be resurfaced with asphalt. Meanwhile the road running from Yamoussoukro through Bouaflé to Daloa will also be improved.

A series of major highway projects are now being implemented in the Philippines. Key projects being implemented close to Davao City include the US$380 million Davao City-Panabo City bypass, the $537.5 million Coastal Road and two flyovers worth $14 million in total. The bypass project will cut journey times and includes the construction of a tunnel section, with a portion of the funding being provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The new coastal route will also cut congestion and jo

New agreements signed between South Sudan and Ethiopia will include the construction of new road routes connecting the two countries. The first of these projects will be for a road running through Boma, Bor, Dima and Raad. A road is also planned to run through Pagak, Gamebella and Palouge. The sections of road in Ethiopia that will connect with the stretches in South Sudan are already complete. Much of the financing for the projects looks likely to come from Ethiopia as war-torn South Sudan is suffering ser

A key stretch of the D3 highway in Slovakia will open in the third quarter of 2017. This timescale represents a delay however as the section of road was originally planned to open in the second quarter of 2017. The 4.25km section runs from Zilina Strazov to Zilina Brodno and is costing close to €306 million to construct, with most of the funding being supplied by EU sources. This stretch of the highway is both complex and challenging as it includes a 2.2km section of tunnel as well as bridge over the the Hr

Chinese contractor China Roads and Bridges Company (CRBC) is spending €194 million to construct a key stretch of Montenegro’s Bar-Boljare highway during 2017. The Exim Bank in China is providing a loan facility worth €889.3 million to Montenegro’s Government to pay for the project. The loan is being provided over a 20-year period. This key stretch of the Bar-Boljare highway is 40km long and presents many technical challenges as it is one of the most complex sections of the route. This stretch will include 1

Argentina is planning two new highway projects to widen and improve key sections of Route 40 and Route 33. A US$291 million project will upgrade a stretch of the existing Route 40 to highway status. The two year project will see the widening of the road between Mendoza and San Juan and the construction work will start in the third quarter of 2017. Argentina’s Transport Ministry has said that the project will be funded by the Federal Government. A second stretch of Route 40 will also be widened and upgraded

Brokk is boosting its range of demolition equipment with the purchase of fellow Scandinavian firm Aquajet. Brokk is a leading manufacturer of remote-controlled demolition machines and its recent acquisition of Aquajet Systems will widen its range of products available. Aquajet is a leading manufacturer of hydrodemolition robots.

The Construction Equipment Association (CEA) reports improvements in UK exports and imports of components and parts for construction and earthmoving machines. According to the CEA report, exports of components and parts showed modest improvements in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared with the third quarter,. This shows a 1.5% increase in weight (tonnes) terms, and an 11.3% increase in value terms.

In 2016, German manufacturers of construction equipment achieved a turnover of €9.3 billion, an increase of 3% compared to 2015. Of note though is that the same period, global sales of construction equipment declined by 1%. German companies managed to perform better than the world market and develop market share. In 2017, they expect another increase in sales by 3%.

Funding has been sourced to pay for widening work on Italy’s important A4 Autostrade. The section from Venice to Trieste will benefit from a finance package worth €600 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Italian bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP). The funding will be supplied to Autovie Venete, the Italian motorway concession firm. This will pay for the construction of third lanes for the highway in either direction, helping boost capacity. The route has been identified as being strate