Finance & Funding

Plans are now well in hand in Australia for the US$4.04 billion Western Distributor Project in Victoria, due for completion in 2022. The project will be built under a new partnership between the Victorian state government and Transurban. The road project is supported by the Victorian Transport Association and will connect the West Gate Freeway to CityLink. The new route will help reduce the numbers of HGVs using the West Gate Bridge and will also upgrade the link to the Port of Melbourne. The project calls

Major progress has been made with regard to construction machine manufacturers agreeing on a standard for telematics communications. This is of key importance to contractors running mixed fleets, as data transfer from equipment will now be much easier. This progress has come with a new construction equipment telematics standard from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and Association of Equipment Management Professionals (AEMP). This has added key features to allow data gathering, and a test da

Funding from the World Bank (WB) will help finance a key Kenyan road project. The US$440.61 million credit line is being provided by the WB to the Kenya National Highways Authority. This will be used for upgrading the Lodwar-Nadapal Road in Kenya. The upgrading will involve construction of bridges, culverts and other drainage facilities.

The Dutch city of The Hague has awarded a BAM joint venture with a €300 million design, construction and maintenance contract for a 4km city road. The new connecting road will run between the motorway at the Ypenburg interchange, A4 and A13, and The Hague’s Central Zone of Binckhorst-Centrum-Scheveningen. Construction will start in mid-2016 and the road is expected to be open by early 2020. The Rotterdamsebaan will make The Hague and its immediate region better accessible by connecting the A4 /A13

Poland might double road spend after the new government criticised spending calculations up to 2025 put together by the previous administration. The Vice-Minister of Infrastructure said expenditure would need to nearly double to around €47 billion for the planned new dual carriageways and motorways. A report by daily economic and political newspaper Rzeczpospolita said the government is calling the estimate of €3.7 million to build a 1km of road “unrealistic”. The rethink comes after Poland's euros

Exports of US construction equipment are still in decline according to the latest Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) market update. The AEM report shows that exports of US-made construction equipment dropped 17.6% for the first three quarters of 2015 compared to January-September 2014, for a total $10.8 billion shipped worldwide.

Slovakia has opened the 9.5km Levoca bypass, nearly completing the northern part of the D1 cross-country motorway. The remaining section between Bratislava and Kosice is expected to be open around 2020, with the Zilina, Presov and Ruzomberok bypasses yet to be built. The newly opened section of Janovce - Jablonov II includes the 600m tunnel Sibenik, as well as a slip road to Levoca and 12 road bridges. Construction works on the D1 section started in June 2012 by the consortium of Eurovia and Stavby M

A new highway project is being planned that will help boost the economy of Mali. The landlocked country is one of the most impoverished nations in Africa and this new highway will provide a direct link from its capital Bamako to the port of San Pedro in Côte d'Ivoire. Much of the financing for the project is being provided through a loan worth US$ 187.61 million from the African Development Bank. The new highway link will also help develop the port of San Pedro, which is currently the second largest in Côte

Uzbekistan is setting out a major plan for road repairing, rebuilding and upgrading. The Uzbek Road Fund is allocating a budget of US$1.02 billion that will be used for the construction and repair of the country’s roads during 2016. Of this budget the largest slice, $544 million, will be used to construct key national routes and improve the country’s links with its neighbours. A further $306 million will be used for important trunk roads, while the country has set a budget of $34 million for upgrading its r