Finance & Funding

The Cambodian Government is benefiting from several financial packages aimed at improving the country’s road network. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a financial support package worth a total of US$118 million that will be used for the Rural Roads Improvement Project II in the country. The package comprises funds from several sources, with a grant worth $5.4 million from the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) and another grant worth $6.67 million from the Australian Government of Australia. It incl

A series of major road projects in Guatemala now look set to go ahead. A US$340 million loan from the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) will most likely fund work to widen the 131km Mayuelas-Puerto Santo Tomas de Castilla route to four lanes. A final decision on the financial package required for this project is due in September 2014. Meanwhile the tender process is opening for a 100km stretch of road running through El Rancho, San Agustin Acasaguastlan, El Progreso to Mayuelas, Gualan, Zacapa. Th

Plans are moving forward in Paraguay for several key projects. The Costanera II road project will be put out to tender at the end of 2014. The project is likely to cost in the region of $100 million. Also due to go out to tender is the project for a new bridge linking Paraguay with neighbouring Brazil, which is expected to cost some $172 million. And in a loan of $134 million will pay for improvements to the Pilar-Alberdi road, costing $120 million, and the Puente Remanso Castillo-Puerto Falcon road in Para

The project to construct a connecting road between the South Luzon and North Luzon expressways in the Philippines now looks set to be delayed. The US$409 million contract previously awarded to a joint venture comprising Philippine National Construction Corp (PNCC) and Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC), has been withdrawn for unspecified reasons. The country’s Department of Public Works and Highways says that the contract has been returned to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for new

In Sri Lanka work is planned for a major highway upgrade project. The work will see a 151.3km stretch of the A5 highway being widened and improved in a deal worth some US$140 million. The work is being planned by Sri Lanka’s Government and is for the stretch of A5 between Badulla and Chenkaladi. Improvement work on the Peradeniya-Badulla section of the A5 highway has now been completed and this latest project is the next phase of the A5 upgrade. The project is being partly financed by the OPEC Fund for Inte

Standard & Poor (S&P) has given Orange County Transportation Agency’s (OCTA) SR91 link one of the highest ratings for managed highway lanes in the world. S&P’s upgraded the SR91 Express Lanes Toll Revenue Bonds to AA-. The bonds were issued last year to refund bonds that were issued in 2003 when OCTA acquired the SR91 Express Lanes project from the private consortium that developed the project under California’s prior P3 law. The 91 Express Lanes is a four-lane, 16km toll road built in the median of Califor

Interest has been strong for a Mexican highway contract. In all 13 companies are considering bidding for the Tuxpan-Tampico highway concession in Veracruz state, reports Business News Americas. Local firms Tradeco Infraestructura, OHL México, Mota Engil México, La Peninsular Compañía Constructora, Acciona Infraestructuras México and Coconal have all shown interest in the project. The contract is for a 106.6km highway, which will run from Tuxpan-Ozuluama and connect two of the country’s busiest Gulf Coast po

Rebuilding of the Interstate 69 highway in Indiana is now going ahead. The PPP project is for the 33.6km I-69 Section 5 contract. Spanish company Isolux Infrastructure is working on the project with much of the funding coming through its agreement with Infra-PSP Canada. The deal sees Infra-PSP Canada taking 49% of the project’s equity. The deal is of note as the firm is an affiliate of Canada’s Public Pension Board and this is the first time an international public pension operation has directly invested in