Finance & Funding

Denmark concerned over rising cost of Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link

February 19, 2015

The Danish government is in talks with contractors over the latest rise in cost estimates for the proposed prestigious Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link between Denmark and Germany. Contractors have estimated an extra €295.5 million will be needed. This is in addition to a statement last November by the contracting company Femern saying that costs had risen nearly €900 million. The total rise price hike is nearly €1.2 billion. This puts the final cost of the 18km tunnel including two railway tunnels, two motorway tun

Honduras to spend $100mn for road projects in 2015

February 19, 2015

At least US$100 million will be injected into road projects in Honduras during 2015, the majority of which will be under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) deals. The schemes will provide a welcome boost to the construction sector, which recorded a drop of 50% during 2014. Construction started last year on a $271 million logistics corridor to connect the country’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The two-lane 390km highway will cut congestion in key urban areas along the route, as well as improving connections to

Poland: A1 tender attracts 11 offers, including one from Strabag

February 19, 2015

Construction of a 15.2km section of Poland’s A1 motorway has attracted 11 bids. A Strabag consortium made the lowest bid for the section, between Pyrzowice and Rzasawa, coming in at €146 million. A consortium formed by Polaqua and Dragados was the second lowest, at €156.4 million. The highest bid was €183.4 million. The contract calls for a construction period of 30 months. Meanwhile, the province of Mazowsze, or Masovia, with its 5.5 million inhabitants and the capital Warsaw, will get nearly €2.1 billion

Louis Berger wins Mozambique N303 road upgrade consultancy deal

February 19, 2015

Infrastructure consultancy Louis Berger is to provide services worth US$7.6 million for the rehabilitation of Mozambique’s National Road N303. The Sub-Saharan Regional Pipeline Corporation awarded the contract for work on the 350km narrow and unpaved carriageway that crosses Tete province. SSRPC is investing $350 million to upgrade the road that starts at the Zambezi River, where Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe have a common border. The modernised road will be the shortest link to a railway under constructi

Detroit-Windsor Tunnel crossing gets new customs facilities

February 17, 2015

The governments of Canada and the province of Ontario officially opened a new customs plaza at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, one of the busiest road crossings between the United States and Canada. The Canadian federal government provided US$8 and the province added $20 million for the project that is part of security improvements and to speed up people processing facilities on the Canadian side of the tunnel. Among the upgrades are new vehicle access lanes, new buildings for the Canada Border Services Agency

Circular route proposed for Myanmar’s capital

February 17, 2015

Talks are in hand in Myanmar with regard to a new circular raised road route around capital Yangon. The aim of the project would be to cut congestion by constructing a new elevated road network. The construction cost is expected to be around US$2.5 billion. Work looks likely to commence in the 2015-1016 period following feasibility studies and a tender process. The project is expected to have considerable input from the private sector and to be carried out under a build-operate-transfer model. A number of i

Austrian highway investment programme planned

February 17, 2015

A major programme of investment is underway on Austria’s highway network. Austrian highway company Asfinag says that it is investing some €7 billion in building new links and upgrading existing connections. This six year programme will run until 2020. The programme calls for work to both highways and major trunk routes. One of the key projects underway already is the upgrade of the A26, which is costing €646 million. Another important project is the upgrade of the S10 trunk road, which is costing €718 milli

Caterpillar reports slight sales dip for full year 2014

February 16, 2015

Global construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar reported full-year 2014 sales $55.184 billion, down from $55.656 billion in 2013. Caterpillar also reported fourth-quarter 2014 sales of $14.244 billion, again slightly down at 1% from $14.402 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013. The results and a continued weak to modest improvement has dampened Caterpillar’s expectation of increased sales for 2015, likely to be around $50 billion. “Overall, we had many positives and a better year in 2014 than 2013,”

Strabag reports output volume remained flat for year end 2014

February 16, 2015

Austrian construction giant Strabag reported output volume of €13.6 billion to year end 2014 was unchanged from last year. The publically listed group, with headquarters in Vienna, said declines in contracts in some countries were offset with increases in the home markets of Germany and Austria, despite a “very restrained tender award policy” for the public sector. Large projects were completed in Romania and Russia at the same time that newly acquired orders in these markets have not yet come on stream.

Innovative road/drainage tunnel plan for Jakarta

February 16, 2015

An innovative combined road and drainage tunnel is being proposed for Indonesia’s capital Jakarta. A study is underway at the moment for this novel integrated tunnel project, which is expected to cost in the region of US$1.88 billion. Work is due to commence during 2015, with the initial phase of the construction being carried out by Antaredja Mulia Jaya. The project is calling for two 12km tunnels that will help alleviate flooding in the city during periods of high rainfall as well as featuring a road. The