Finance & Funding

The UK Government has released its National Infrastructure Plan 2013 (NIP2013) at an event held in London at the Institution of Civil Engineers (CIHT). The National Infrastructure Plan 2013 sets out the UK Government’s vision and strategic objectives for infrastructure by assessing the needs, now and in the future, setting out a policy approach, identifying priority projects and providing a plan for delivery. The scheme will fund improvements to the A50 around Uttoxeter starting no later than 2015 to 2016,

Work on a key stretch of Colombia’s Ruta del Sol highway project is behind schedule, with the route now unlikely to open to traffic before 2017. The 21.6km section of the highway facing these delays will link Villeta and Guaduas in Cundinamarca. A key challenge is technical as the US engineering firm Gall Zeidler Consultants has warned Colombia’s infrastructure agency (ANI) that this section of the route is geologically unstable. The proposed route could be at risk from slippage and will need to be stabilis

A loan worth US$400 million will help fund construction of a new highway in Kyrgyzstan. The Eximbank of China is providing the loan to the Kyrgyzstan Government of Kyrgyzstan for a 20 year period, with a grace period of 11 years at an interest rate of 2%. The project is for the construction of the new North - South route. The project includes a 1.7km tunnel, which is expected to cost some $150 million.

Odebrecht has been awarded a concession for Brazil’s important BR-163 federal highway route. The 851km section of highway runs through Mato Grosso state and the deal is worth some US$2 billion, according to a report by Business News Americas. As part of its contract, Odebrecht will have to widen a 454km stretch of the route within five years and is also required to build nine new toll booths.

Odebrecht has been awarded a concession for Brazil’s important BR-163 federal highway route. The 851km section of highway runs through Mato Grosso state and the deal is worth some US$2 billion, according to a report by Business News Americas. As part of its contract, Odebrecht will have to widen a 454km stretch of the route within five years and is also required to build nine new toll booths.

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) is providing a US$400 million loan to Guatemala for rural road construction. This follows on from a $200 million loan being provided to Guatemala by the World Bank and a $237 million loan from the IADB. The Guatemalan Government is also working on upgrading CA9 Norte highway to make it reach Mayuelas completing an 89km extension at a cost of $240 million. The authorities also have plans to replace 60-70 bridges with new structures.

The Serbian Government is considering a loan from China’s Export-Import Bank, which would pay for the construction of the E-763 highway. The bank looks set to give its approval for the €223 million loan, which would pay for 90% of the construction work for the E-763, or Obrenovac-Ljig, highway. The loan would be approved over a 20 year repayment period and a five year grace period at the fixed rate of 2.5%/year. Meanwhile tendering will open for completion works on Serbia’s Pirot-Dimitrovgrad highway unti

Studies for the proposed Brussels Ring Road will receive EU support. Co-financing worth some €1 million from the EU’s TEN-T Programme will help pay for a study to optimise the Brussels Ring Road and improve its traffic flow and safety. The Belgian authorities will pay the remaining €1 million for the study. The main aim of this study is to try and separate local and transit traffic, without extending the existing road infrastructure.

According to market analysis by global advisory firm KPMG, the value of global transactions in the transport infrastructure sector has risen steeply since the beginning of 2013. KPMG reports that 2013 looks set to be a record year for transport infrastructure deals. The first half of 2013 saw global deals of infrastructure assets worth US$16.6 billion. By the end of the third quarter this figure had risen to $23.5 billion. The majority of assets acquired in 2013 have been either in Europe or Asia.

The US Interstate network needs serious investment, and tolling could provide the answer - *Bob Poole writes Could the ageing US Interstate highway system be rebuilt and modernised using toll finance? What kind of toll rates would this require? How feasible would doing this be? In September the Reason Foundation released a study on this issue. The study showed that it may be feasible to finance the reconstruction and selective widening of nearly the entire Interstate system using moderate toll rates collect