Finance & Funding

Construction is about to start on the first public-private partnership highway project in the US state of Ohio. The Southern Ohio Veterans Memorial Highway, near the city of Portsmouth, will cost nearly US$228 million and is scheduled for completion in 2019, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). The Portsmouth Gateway Group will build the 25.8km, four-lane limited access highway from U.S. Route 23 north of Lucasville to U.S. Route 52 near Sciotoville. An ODOT statement said tha

According to a new report by Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Centre, 15 of the major economies in Europe are investing over US$1.43 trillion in road and rail construction projects in the coming years. Russia leads with investment of $433 billion, followed by the UK and France with $263 billion and $167 billion, respectively. The railways sector has the highest value at $804 billion, followed by the roads sector at $301 billion. Tunnels and bridges is valued at $227 billion and the trams and metros se

A consortium of Brazil's Mendes Junior and Spain's Isolux Corsán could lose its US$208 million contract to build part of the northern section of the Mario Covas beltway around the Brazilian city of São Paulo. The consortium, led by Mendes Junior, is falling behind schedule because of cash flow problems, according to São Paulo state highway company Dersa. The deal was signed in January 2013, local paper Folha de São Paulo reported.

Chinese construction equipment maker Zoomlion and Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics have signed what they call a “global strategic cooperation framework agreement” to create a new company. Zoomlion and Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, abbreviated as WWL, will increase cooperation between the two companies in distribution network construction, PDI testing, pier construction and warehouse management. The aim is to increase the competitiveness of Zoomlion products globally, a joint statement said.

LiuGong Machinery, a major Chinese maker of heavy construction equipment, said it will invest around US$38 million in manufacturing in Brazil. The announcement was made during the opening ceremony of its first factory in Brazil, in the city of Mogi Guaçu, around 180km from São Paulo. LiuGong expects to produce 1,500 wheel loaders and excavators annually at the facility in the first three years of operation.

Przedsiebiorstwo Uslug Technicznych Intercor has been awarded a contract to build the second section of the S3 dual carriageway. The 11.6km section will stretch from Przeszkody to Paszkow and cost around €106 million (nearly US$116 million). The S3 will run from Świnoujście on the Baltic Sea through Szczecin, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Zielona Góra and Legnica to the border with the Czech Republic, where it will connect to the D11 motorway.

Kazakhstan’s deputy minister for investments and development Zhenis Kasymbek has said that about US$20 billion will be invested in development of all types of transport infrastructure by 2020. The main funds will be allocated for the Caspian region, in particular for projects to improve connections to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. Apart from road infrastructure, money will be invested to construct the Beyneu-Zhezkazgan railway and development of the Altynkol-Khorgos railway section in the direction of

The Nicaraguan Government is setting out major plans for road infrastructure development. The country's master plan for road infrastructure envisages work to a total of 4,200km of main roads across the country. This programme is expected to cost in the order of US$5.20 billion, according to pre-feasibility studies carried out by Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC). Funding is being sought at present by the Nicaraguan Government, which is in discussion with a number of bodies.

Brazi llooks set to delay a number of key infrastructure projects until 2016. The Brazilian Federal Government's planned transport sector concession tenders will see investments close to US$46.58 billion in all. But these will be pushed back to 2016 due to the difficulty of launching all auctions in 2015 due to technical, economic and political limits. The tenders are revised versions of those promised previously. However only the airport tenders having been launched with success. Due to revisions in the pl

The Nepalese Government is to receive a loan from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for a key tunnel project. The JICA loan is being offered at an interest rate of 1% for the next 40 years. The project is expected to cost in the region of US$150.1 million to construct. The new link will reduce traffic congestion on the existing Nagdhunga-Thankot road. Work is expected to commence in the next 18 months. The survey for the 2.5km tunnel has been carried out by the Department of Roads.