Finance & Funding

Columbia’s National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) will help finance construction of the Toyo tunnel in Antioquia. The tunnel, nearly 10km-long and costing almost US$760, will be part of a new 39km road between Santa Fe de Antioquia and Canasgordas. The central government will contribute $216 million towards the project, the regional government of Antioquia will contribute $337 million and the Medellin government will pitch in with $212 million.

The Algerian Council of Ministers has approved two contracts for stretches of road on the Hauts Plateaux motorway. No details of the contractors were given for the work that is to link Lambidiri to Draa Lahmar via Ouled Fadhel. Construction is expected to take 18 months. Last March, World Highways reported that work on the 1,000km Hauts-Plateaux motorway project was to begin that month. Construction cost for motorway’s 10 sections was estimated to be around US$8.94 billion, according to Algerian Minis

The Lithuanian Government is setting out plans to rebuild one of the country’s main highway links. The Vilnius-Utena highway rebuilding project is set to commence towards the end of 2015 and has an estimated cost of some €175 million. The project plans call for the work to be carried out under the public-private partnership (PPP) model and will involve reconstructing a 72.1km stretch of the Vilnius-Utena highway. The project will be submitted to parliament for approval in March 2015. If the approval is then

Rwanda looks set to commence work on a major road revamp project. The project is for the construction of the 51km Base-Gicumbi-Rukomo road. Financing for the project is coming in the shape of a loan worth some US$74.7 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB). The Rwandan Government will also provide another $4.6 million for the road project later. The project is part of Base-Nyagatare road project that will connect the Northern and the Eastern provinces, with work likely to start in April 2015. The

In Western Australia plans are in hand for the new Perth freight link. This will run between Muchea and Fremantle, and it will start with the Roe 8 project and extend Roe Highway through to Stock Road. The route will remove some 500 trucks/day from the Leach Highway, helping cut congestion. The project will cost around US$1.3 billion (A$1.6 billion), with funding split between the Western Australia State Government and the Federal Government. The route should be complete in 2016. Also in Australia, work has

New Zealand will spend US$30 billion over the next decade on public transport, including road works not just in major urban areas but in the provinces. The announcement was made by Transport Minister Simon Bridges after the government approved the draft Government Policy Paper 2015. The approved document takes into consideration concerns by local government that their transport infrastructure needs would be ignored in favour of those for large urban areas, the New Zealand Herald newspaper reported.

In Russia’s Novosibirsk Region, plans are underway for the South-Western Transit road. The project is of a 30km link road connecting the existing Northern and Eastern bypass roads. Funding worth in excess of US$127 million will be provided by the Russian Federal Road Agency, Rosavtodor. The remaining $273.3 million required for the project will come from private investors. The project is being carried out under the PPP model.

Pakistan’s Government has unveiled plans to upgrade the highway connecting Islamabad with Lahore. The M-2 highway is one of the most important road links in Pakistan and is seen as crucial for its national transportation network. The upgrade plan will include new service area as well as traffic control systems to optimise flow along the route. Pakistan’s National Highway Authority (NHA) agreed the deal for the project with Frontier Works Organisation (FWO). Under the terms of the deal, FWO is paying an init

Two major new toll road projects are now in planning for Indonesia. One is for the Palembang-Indralaya toll project while the other is for the Soreang-Pasir Koja toll road. The South Sumatra provincial government believes that the Palembang-Indralaya toll road project will cost US$319.2 million, and feature a pay-back period of 18 years and 11 months. The investors in the project include the construction firms, Jasa Marga and Hutama Karya as well as the provincial government-owned Prodexim. Hutama Karya is