News

Indonesian toll road operator Jasa Marga is keen to source funding to finance 10 new highway projects. The company is looking for loans in the shape of bond issuances as well as from banking firms. The 10 highway projects will extend for a total distance of 272.45km in all. Jasa Marga hopes to source loans worth a total of US$215.46 million for the work. However in all the projects are expected to cost some $306.37 million to construct.

Cambodia is continuing with the construction of a key highway project. Work is now underway on building National Road No58. The project has been by a number of Chinese companies, which are investing some US$122 million into the 174km road. The new road will link Samrong city in Uddor Meanchey Province with Poipet City in Banteay Meanchey Province. Construction is being carried out by Chinese contractor Shanghai Construction (Group) General Company. Completion of the construction work is scheduled for August

In Brazil the firm EcoRodovias has won the tender process for the Rio-Niteroi bridge contract. The Brazilian road management firm was awarded the tender for the Rio-Niteroi contract, with its proposed low charge for each user of the bridge. The company will take over management of the route from May 2015, for a period of 30 years. The tariff charged for light vehicles will immediately drop from the current US$1.61 (BRL 5.20) to $1.15 (BRL 3.70) when EcoRodovias takes over from CCR, which has the contract fo

In Australia funding has now been sourced for the Townsville Ring Road project. The country’s Federal Government is supplying the US$122.52 million (A$160 million) required for the Townsville Ring Road project. This road will connect Mount Low and Shaw Road in Queensland. The Queensland State Government will supply the remaining $30.6 million (A$40 million) required to complete the budget needed for the project. The Townsville Ring Road is scheduled to open for traffic in 2017. This new route is needed to c

In Algeria widening work on the Laghouat-Ghardaïa road is being carried out on schedule and is due for completion by early 2016, according to Algerian Public Works Ministry. The project involves widening the RN-1 highway between Laghouat and Ghardaïa. The Algerian Public Works Ministry has said that the first 103km stretch of the new route will be ready for traffic within the first half of 2016. This project is of importance to Algeria as the extension work to the RN-1 highway means that it will soon reach

The Brenner Base Tunnel could be financed by highway users according to a proposal by the Italian Ministry of Transport. The authorities in South Tyrol have suggested that the EU may forego new tenders and recalculate the concession period so that it is for a longer timeframe. This would be of benefit both to the Italian Government (which has budgetary restraints), and the EU. Highway operator Brennerautobahn, in which the Italian regions of Trentino and South Tyrol have a 32.2% stake, already provides €30

In Canada the British Colombia Government has announced a programme of road and highway upgrades worth a total of US$1.99 billion (C$2.5 billion). The investment will be used to rehabilitate side roads, highways and bridges across the province. This plan will include repaving some 1,000km/year of provincial highway, with this plan stretching out over a period of 10 years. A key portion of the work will be to widen Highway 1 section to six lanes between Abbotsford and Langley. The proposed plan has been titl

An ambitious road improvement scheme has been proposed by the Mozambique Government. The programme of works calls for the paving of 2,100km of roads by 2019. The scheme will address both national and regional roads across the country between 2015 and 2019, covering around 420km/year of roads on average. Also included within the programme will be repairs to 57 bridges. Meanwhile a further 2,800km of roads will be repaired, an average on 560km/year, by 2019. The, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

The response to the calls for the proposed National Pothole Day have been so strong that organiser Street Repairs is now planning a World Pothole Day. This will be on March 25th.

The Nepalese Government is now moving forward with its plans for the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track highway project. The Indian firm Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) has been awarded the contract to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the project. Following earlier issues with regard to sourcing suitable financing, the Nepalese Government now plans to construct the highway link using the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model. The maximum cost of

Deutz reported new orders received in 2014 totalled €1,379 million, which was 16.4% below the record figure reported for 2013 (€1,649.7 million). The number of engines sold rose by 6.7% year on year from 184,028 units in 2013 to 196,403 in 2014. This was largely due to stronger demand in the mobile machinery application segment. By contrast, new orders fell significantly in the automotive and agricultural machinery application segments. Corporate revenue was up 5.3% to €1,530.2 million (2013: €1,453.2 milli

A district court in the Polish town of Olsztyn has ruled in favour of a consortium of Budimex and Ferrovial Agroman which challenged the awarding of a ringroad contract to a rival. The ruling means that the Salini consortium’s winning bid for the construction of a ringroad around Ostroda is overturned on the basis that it was ineffectually low. This means that the contract will go to the Budimex consortium which proposed to build the road for around €223 million. Polish builder Budimex is the consortium's m