Finance & Funding

Riccardo Viaggi is the new secretary general of CECE. Viaggi is representing the sector for the EU institutions and is managing the association’s Brussels office. Previously, Viaggi has been Secretary General of European Builders Confederation (EBC), a post he held from 2009. In this function, he represented European construction micro, small and medium-sized enterprises from the 20 affiliates and partners of EBC in Brussels. CECE’s president Bernd Holz is confident that Riccardo will help strengthen the vi

Work on a major road project in Ecuador now looks set to restart now that a financing package for the work has been determined. The Circunvalacion Norte ring road in the city of Cuenca is expected to cost US$520 million, with the plans calling for three lanes in either direction along a 6km section between Guangarucho and the Panamericana Norte motorway. The route will measure 50km in all and will be tolled, with the project now looking set to be carried out under a concession model. The project is not allo

Construction of a new expressway is intended to improve the connection between Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh and Vietnam’s capital, Ho Chi Minh City. This is the product of discussions between the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments. The project is expected to cost US$650 million and the new link will feature three lanes in either direction and will run alongside the existing Highway 22 in Vietnam and Highway 1 in Cambodia. The new route will feature a maximum speed of 120km/h and will stretch for 65km in

Funding is being provided for the construction of new tolled lanes on a highway close to Denver, Colorado. The funding will be provided by the US Federal Government in the form of a loan worth US$109 million. In all the project will cost $276 million, with the state providing the majority of the remaining funding required. The funding will be used to widen a 20km section of the route connecting Wadsworth Boulevard with Interstate 25. The widening work is expected to be complete by 2019 and is intended to he

Improved sales of construction machines have been seen in Italy in the first three months of 2017. In this period sales climbed 6% compared with the first quarter of 2016. There were 2,094 units sold in all, 2,005 items of earthmoving equipment and 89 road construction machines. “The market is growing but on a lower level compared to last year,” said Paolo Venturi, president of Unacea. He added that the sales of new generation machines that meet the latest emissions targets could help further reduce urban p

Tender problems are afflicting Taiwan’s Tamkang Bridge project. The recent tender process for the project has failed. This is now the third time the tender for the project has fallen through. A new tender process for the project will open shortly. With the tender process facing such issues, the project looks likely to be further delayed until after 2020. The country’s Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) has now increased the budget allocated to the project to nearly US$310 million in a bid to ensure the w

Romania’s Government is evaluating plans for a new bridge project, which would span the River Danube. The project has an estimated cost of nearly €440 million. The tender process is being opened by the Romanian National Agency for the Administration of Road Infrastructure (CNAIR). The bridge would be constructed in Romania’s Dobrogea Region. Funding looks likely to be provided, in part at least, by EU grants. As the Dobrogea Region is the location for the Danube Delta area where the river finally meets the

A budget of US$400.5 million is being set for a series of road improvements in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region (Volga) during 2017. The funding will be directed towards repairs and maintenance for roads in the area. The programme of works calls for improvements to be carried out to 115km of roads that have been identified as being in unsatisfactory condition. In all 400,000m3 of asphalt will be used for the road upgrades. Meanwhile specific projects to be carried out include the construction of a second bri

Funding for improvements to a major road connection between Kenya and Uganda will be provided by the African Development Bank (AfDB). In all US$253 of financing will be provided for the road improvement work to the 118km stretch of road. The Kenyan side of the project will receive funding worth $147 million while the Ugandan side will receive $106 million. This will pay for close to 90% of the costs associated with the project, with the remainder being paid for by the Kenyan Government and the Ugandan Gover