Finance & Funding

The budget for Bangladesh’s Padma Bridge project may have to be increased. A further US$168.7 million has been requested for the project by the Ministry of Road Transport & Bridges. This additional funding would help pay for additional land on which dredged materials could be tipped. However, Bangladesh’s Implementation, Monitoring & Evaluation Division is opposing the call for extra funds.

Rebuilding a stretch of the A20 Autobahn in Germany is now costing more than originally expected. The work to upgrade the A20 in the North East of the country had a budget of €100 million when planned. However the cost of the work has increased considerably.

New technology and reduced machine emissions were amongst the key topics at the CEA conference in London - Mike Woof writes. Construction machine manufacturers are going to have to find new solutions if targets on emissions controls are going to be met. This is a clear viewpoint for the industry. But as the speakers at the recent CEA conference in London showed, there are differing opinions on how that will be achieved and what technical solutions will come to the fore. Duncan Riding, business development

Julián Núñez, president of ASECAP, gets his teeth into the vision of a European strategy for toll roads. David Arminas reports from Madrid Getting European politicians to agree to a long-term cross-border highway infrastructure programme for toll roads is extremely difficult. It’s a bit like pulling teeth. People want to avoid the pain. This is perhaps a bad analogy to use in the case of Julián Núñez, president of ASECAP - European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures. Núñez had just sat

Funding has been secured to pay for the Gympie bypass project in Queensland, Australia. The 26km project is expected to cost US$ 767.4 million (A$1 billion) in all. The Australian Government will provide 80% of the funding required, with the remaining 20% being provide by Queensland State’s budget. This section of road will extend the Bruce Highway and is intended to cut congestion in the area.

A new highway stretch measuring 28km long is opening in Macedonia. The work has been carried out by the Greek contractor Aktor. The project has cost €227 million. The new highway section runs from Demir Kapija to Smokvica. Financing has been provided jointly by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), a number of funds and also by Macedonia’s own budget. The completion of this section of highway now completes the route connecting the north and south of

Funding has been secured to pay for rebuilding work on the Transchaco road in Paraguay. A series of loans worth a total of US$560 million is paying for the rebuilding work. The Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) is providing the bulk of the funding in the shape of a loan worth $400 million. Meanwhile the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is providing a loan of $160 million for the work.

A loan package from the World Bank will help pay for a major rural road programme in India. The US$210 million loan is being used for rural road development in Madhya Pradesh State. The upgrade work will see a total of 10,000km of gravels roads in Madhya Pradesh State being surfaced with asphalt, while a further 510km of new rural roads will be built in the state and will be surfaced with asphalt. This will be for the Madhya Pradesh Rural Connectivity Project.

Chinese manufacturers are increasing sales of construction machines both in their home market and also for export. This is the claim from Wang Guiqing, vice president of China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME). Wang said that demand for machines in China has increased as market conditions have improved, while the impact of the Belt and Road strategy for developing infrastructure is a massive benefit for export sales. As many projects are now commencing