Finance & Funding

The Chilean government has announced around 800 road projects for 2016, mostly linked to road concessions, costing about US$1.44 billion. Schemes include those on the Autopista del Sol motorway, such as a third lane between Santiago and Talagante, an alternative access to Penaflor, improvements to the Talagante link and a control centre. In addition, a $5.2 million stop-and-go tag-type toll payment system will be introduced for Autopista del Sol, which will be similar to ones on Ruta 5 Sur between Angost

Nicaragua has boosted it budget by $84 million for 2016 in an effort to stimulate the construction sector, local media report. Public resources will reach around US$600 million and will be aimed to fund infrastructure work such as the Rio Blanco Mulukuku road and the Naciones Unidas-Bluefields road. The Ministry of Transport will receive $200 million of the budget of which $46 million will be earmarked for the road maintenance fund – Fomav – concerning nearly 2,600kmn or roads. In addition, money w

A major upgrade of Mexico’s Atizapan-Atlacomulco road link is being planned. The work is expected to commence in 2016 and will cost in the region of US$182.63 million. The project will be carried out by OHL Mexico, the Mexican subsidiary of Spanish form OHL. Once the upgrade is complete, the route will be able to carry heavier traffic volumes than at present and the extra capacity will cut delays on the route, as well as increasing safety.

UK construction equipment manufacturer JCB is celebrating its 70th anniversary. The firm was founded on October 23rd, 1945 by the late Joseph Cyril Bamford in a lock-up garage in the Staffordshire market town of Uttoxeter. It was the same day as his son Anthony, now Lord Bamford, was born and as Mr Bamford remarked “being presented with a son tended to concentrate the mind and when you were starting at the bottom, there was only one way to go and that was up.” The foundation for the growth that was to

China will loan Bolivia around US$7.5 billion for all types of infrastructure projects, according to the Bolivian vice-president Alvaro Garcia Linera. The loan will arrive in tranches with different interest rates, from a low of less than 1% and up to 4%. It will likely increase the country's foreign debt to GDP ratio from 17% to 35%. Road projects will include a double-lane between Bombeo and Villa Tunari; road works between Santa Cruz and Cochabamba; and new motorways between Charazani and Porvenir,

India is considering a 28km expressway connecting the south of Indira Gandhi Airport in Delhi to Daulapura on National Highway-8. The project, which hopes to ease traffic on NH-8 that connects Gurgaon and Jaipur, is estimated to cost more than US$5 billion, according to a report in the Business Standard. The NH-8 connects New Delhi, the federal capital, with Mumbai, on India’s western coast.

Brazil expects the second phase of its logistics investment programme PIL (Programa de Investimentos em Logistica) to include 7,000km of new roads by 2018. In the first phase, between 2011 and 2014, more than 5,300km were built. The first auctions under the second phase are expected to be launched by the end of the year, according to Flavio Freitas, development and technology director for the Brazilian road operators association ABCR. PIL was launched in August 2012 to garner private sector investment fo

Bolivia is looking to source funding for two major highway projects from China. This development could follow discussions between Bolivia's vice-president Alvaro Garcia Linera and Chinese funding bodies being held during his trip to China. The highways in focus are the links from Porvenir to Chive and from Chive to Ixiamas. The 151km Porvenir to Chive highway is expected to cost around US$385 million to construct. The 254km Chive to Ixiamas highway meanwhile is expected to cost $600 million. Should Chinese

The EU will provide funding worth US$613.37 million to the Ethiopian Government for rural road development. The financing will be provided between 2016 and 2020, as part of a road funding programme in place since 1997. Around 65% of Ethiopia’s local districts have road access at present. The country’s investment in road infrastructure has seen a halving of average journey times in Ethiopia. Meanwhile the road network had grown to nearly 100,000km at the end of 2014 compared to just 26,000km in 1997. The con