Finance & Funding

Funding is being secured for a new bridge to be built to the north of the city of Hobart in Australia’s Tasmania State. The new bridge will span the Derwent River and is due for completion by 2024. Building the link will reduce journey times for drivers as the present link over the Derwent River has insufficient capacity suffers severe delays. An infrastructure budget of US$1.93 billion has been set, with the new Bridgewater Bridge being prioritised as a key project for construction.

A series of road repairs in Guatemala will help repair roads damaged by the recent El Fuego volcano eruption. The country’s Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV) has set a budget of US$31 million to be used for emergency road repair work. Some of this is being used from the country’s emergency fund while another portion is being brought forward from the budget intended for 2019.

Tanzania is setting out ambitious plans for road development with a series of projects being scheduled during 2018 and 2019. A budget of US$658.4 million has been set by the Tanzanian Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications for the period. This is intended to pay for works on 62 separate road projects. The plan forms part of a wider programme of works intended to boost road connectivity across East Africa. Included in this strategic plan are new highways, upgrades to existing routes to add capacity

A US$11.8 million contract in Zambia will be handled by Irish engineering consultant Nicholas O'Dwyer. The firm has the contract for design review, financial and technical supervision of a major road project. The 350km dual carriagway will connect Lusaka with Ndola and pass through Kite. This is expected to cost $1.2 billion, while construction will take 36 months. Building the dual carriageway will provide better transport to and from a number of the country’s copper mines, which are important for the Zamb

Funding is being secured for a road rebuild and widening project in Tajikistan. The 82km road runs between Dushanbe and Bokhtar and the work should be complete by 2023. The Chinese contractor Xinjiang Beixin is working on phase 1 of the project, building a 33km stretch of the route that is costing US$96 million. Phase 2 of the project is for a 40km section of the route, with construction due to start in the second half of 2018. The phase 2 construction work will be financed by $90 million of funding being s

Poland will use the public-private partnership model for four road sections worth in total €2.32 billion. The roads are the S6 running from Koszalin to the DK6 at Bozepole Wielkie, the S10 from Bydgoszcz to Torun, the western ring-road of Szczecin and the ring-road around the TriCity metropolis. Tenders will be issued likely by the end of the year or the first quarter 2019, according to Polish media. The decision to adopt the PPP model for infrastructure projects is partly a response to the reduction

The European Union will fund €265 million for construction of the last section of the M4 motorway, linking Budapest, Hungary with the Romanian border. The money will come from the EU’s Cohesion Fund that targets projects designed to boost local and regional economies and promote tourism. The link's starting point is at the junction where the M35 motorway, which connects Berettyóújfalu and Debrecen.

Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, has been awarded a statewide procurement engineering contract from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The deal will see Atkins assisting TxDOT with alternative delivery procurement needs throughout the state. “Our role is to review and analyse the approaches outlined in submittals from design-builders or others to ensure they can commit to and meet TxDOT’s alternative delivery expectations,” said Wes Burford, senior project director in SNC-Lavalin’s