Finance & Funding

The Ministry of Infrastructure has boosted its budget for 2016 to US$1.65 billion, an increase of $60.2 million over last year. According to a report by La Prenza, road projects include renovation of around 69km of the Tegucigalpa-Catacamas route and continuation of the San Francisco de la Paz-Puerto Castilla road. The ministry also said it will improve 80km of rural roads in indigenous areas and will undertake 332km of refurbishment on other roads. Earlier this month, World Highways reported that

The Slovak capital Bratislava has set aside €44.5 million for road construction and repairs during 2016. The road budget is part of next year’s general budget of nearly €281 million from which public transport will receive just over €70 million and integrated transport systems will get nearly €3 million. World Highways reported in June that controversy continues to surround a proposed D4 motorway bypass around Bratislava and what tunnel option under the Little Carpathian Mountains is the best value.

Cubic has opened an Innovation Centre in London with the aim of advancing mobility in urban transportation. The centre is effectively a space that can be configured to accommodate any number of business needs and will be used as a meeting venue for company employees, transport planners and operators, universities and research establishments from the UK and elsewhere. It will host discussions about all travel modes (roads, bikes, bus, walking, rail, metro, and ferry) as well as the interaction between mod

The cost of rebuilding the Leopold II tunnel in Brussels has increased from original estimates. The tunnel runs from the Koekelberg Basilica to central Brussels and the three year contract is planned to commence in 2017. Two funding options are in the frame with a conventional tender process and annual maintenance deal expected to cost €450 million. The design, build, finance and maintain (DBFM) option would cost €665 million over a 30 year period meanwhile.

A loan facility will help pay for new road development planned for Honduras. The US$150 million, 20 year loan has been approved by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). The PIV road infrastructure scheme set out by Honduras is intended to develop the country’s network. The funding will be used on over 180kms of roads in various parts of the country.

Two key highways in India’s Andhra Pradesh State are to be widened and upgraded. The projects are being handled by the Stage Government of Andhra Pradesh. The work to upgrade the Ibrahimpatnam-Tiruvuru highway to four lanes will cost US$219.63 million. The work to upgrade the Machilipatnam-Vijayawada highway into four lanes will cost $77.22 million. In addition, a flyover will be built as part of the Vijayawada highway expansion. An additional $67.15 million will be spent on buying land and building a flyov

Five road projects in India will benefit from funding provided by loans from Japan. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is to provide loans worth a total of US$738.65 million to fund five road projects. These will form part of the North East Connectivity project, which has been planned by the Indian Government. The work includes upgrade works to the northeast road network, while the Indian Government has also dedicated a portion of the funds to upgrade the Aizwal-Tuipand, NH-51, and NH-54 road

A consortium will carry out a major bypass project in Slovakia’s capital Bratislava. The consortium comprises Spanish construction firm Cintra, as well as Australian companies Macquarie and Porr. The partners will build part of Bratislava's (Slovakia) ring road. The contract also includes a 30 year management period for a 27km stretch on the D4 motorway and a further 32km stretch on the R7 motorway. The contract will be formalised once all the documentation is verified by the Slovakian Government. The proje

According to a report from Italian equipment exhibition firm SaMoTer, sales of earth moving machinery market can expect to recover in 2016. This improvement will be seen globally, with sales for 2017 expected to be 17% higher than for 2015. There will also be an increase in machine sales in Italy over the next two years. This will be a major improvement for the business, which has struggled since the market collapse of 2007 when sales dropped by 72%. Earthmoving machine sales for Italy in 2017 could be arou

Strong interest has been reported in a major highway project in India. PNC Infratech, Sadbhav Infrastructure, Ashoka Buildcon, and APCO Infratech have all been bidding to win the Meerut-Bulandshahr highway project. This is worth some US$105 million and involves the construction of a 62km highway link. The project will be carried out under the hybrid annuity model (HAM), with the builder and Indian Government splitting the construction cost 60:40. Under the HAM model, the Indian Government also has plans for