Finance & Funding

Bankrupt Australian highway management firm BrisConnections is selling its 6.7km AirportlinkM7 toll road in Brisbane three years after the highway opened, according to a report by the Financial Review. Macquarie Capital and Fort Street are acting as financial advisers and PBB Advisory is the receiver. Transurban, which paid A$7.05 billion for Brisbane's five other toll roads last year, is seen as the likeliest buyer, with indicative bidding starting early this month for closure of a deal early next year, ac

Interest is proving to be strong in the new Agua Negra Tunnel project which will link Argentina with Chile. A number of Chinese contractors are showing strong interest in the project.

Further delays to the planned Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link between Germany and Denmark appear likely because of objections to the project during the planning stages, Danish media reported. Government authorities in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein indicated that permission for the project, which focusses on a 17km immersed road and rail tunnel, will probably be given in 2017, and not next year as previously believed. German authorities have received about 3,100 objections to the project that has rise

The Indonesian government is looking to spend around US$385 million of a major loan from China to construct three toll roads in the islands of Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Java. The three toll roads are Cileunyi-Sumedang-Dawuan (Cisumdawu) of West Java, Balikpapan-Samarinda of East Kalimantan and Manado-Bitung of North Sulawesi. China recently announced it would lend Indonesia around $1.5 billion for infrastructure projects.

Mexico’s secretary of communications and transport, Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, has confirmed that the second level of Mexico City-to-Tlalpan interconnection road project could be completed by December. This stretch is part of the Mexico-Cuernavaca motorway improvement project, included in plans by the federal government and the capital's local authority to expand the access to Mexico City. The initiative is costing around US$1.68 billion and encompasses other motorways such as Mexico-Puebla, Mexico-Pachuca

The authorities in Vietnam have set a massive budget for road development in Ho Chi Minh City. Some US$5.54 billion will be spent on improving the city’s road network. The projects included in the 2016-2020 road transport development plan include the construction of Belt Roads No3 and No4, the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Highway and tunnels at the Cong Hoa-Truong Chinh and An Suong intersections. The work also includes building flyovers at the Nguyen Huu Tho-Nguyen Van Linh Intersection, My Thuy Roundabout and Go Va

Ecuador is planning a series of four PPP infrastructure projects worth a total of US$1.5 billion. The four projects include the development of the port of Posorja, which will be financed by the private company involved. Two other projects are for the development of the port of Machala and the Rio 7 highway in Huaquillas, both of which are located in El Oro province. New regulations and laws are being established for the PPP plan to go ahead.

Parsons has been selected by the Canadian province of Ontario to provide environmental assessment planning and preliminary design for the next section of the 407 Transitway. Work will include 23km of bus rapid transit lanes, from west of Hurontario Street to east of Highway 400, as well as 11 transit stations, all around the provincial capital Toronto area. The project is part of the 150km cross-regional rapid transit corridor planned to parallel Highway 407 Express Toll Route freeway, a 107km control

Funding has been secured for a major highway widening and upgrade project in Bangladesh. The route running from capital Dhaka to Sylhet will be widened sufficiently so that it will feature two lanes running in either direction, enabling it to better cope with the traffic volumes it currently handles. The highway widening project will be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The feasibility study for the project has already been carried out. The project will be managed by Bangladesh’s Road Transport an

Chinese funding will help deliver the construction of a major new road project in Senegal. A loan worth US$704.6 million will help finance the construction of Senegal’s new 113km highway connecting Touba and Thiès. The contractor China Road and Bridge Construction (CRBC) will carry out the construction works, which is expected to require 45 months to complete. The loan will be paid back over a 25-year period using toll revenues.