News

A finance source has been secured for major highway projects in Colombia. The Rumichaca-Pasto and Montes de Maria highways are being constructed by Spanish contractor Sacyr. A package of loans worth a total of US$110 million will pay for the highway work. This financing is being supplied jointly by CIFI, Banco BTG Pactual Cayman Branch and Banco Pichincha Panama.

The 13km M4-M5 Link in Sydney, Australia is to be constructed by the South Korean contractor, Samsung C&T. The project is worth US$788.5 million. The new link will be constructed as an underpass and is due for completion in mid-2023.

The Canada-US Thousand Island Bridge system celebrated its 80th birthday in August with presentations and an open house at its US headquarters. The 33.7km three-bridge system over the St Lawrence River took 16 months to build and was completed 10 weeks ahead of schedule. It runs from Collins Landing near Alexandria Bay in the US state of New York to the small town of Ivy Lea in the Canadian province of Ontario. The system connects US Interstate 81 and Canada’s Highway 401, a major motorway between Montre

A programme of bridge repairs and upgrades is being planned by the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket). The work is expected to cost €960 million and will see around 850 bridges being improved. The improvements are needed to boost capacity for many of the structures, to cope with larger trucks now being allowed on the Swedish road network. The programme is planned to continue until 2030 and will focus on improving the load capacity of bridges on key routes.

Two newly constructed bridges in Poland will now have to be demolished. The bridges are on the A1 highway as it passes Czestochowa, part of the ring road around the southern city. The need for the demolition has been highlighted by tests that show the concrete used in the construction of bridges 361 and 362 to be sub-standard.

After a series of delays a key project to construct a new tunnel connection in Nepal is now moving forward. The country’s Department of Roads is inviting bids for the Ngdhunga Tunnel project, which comes with an estimated pricetag of US$182 million. Around 75% of the necessary funding is being supplied by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in the shape of a loan with a 40-year repayment period. The project for the Ngdhunga Tunnel involves building a 2.45km tunnel section between Basnetchhap a

The construction of Colombia’s Tunel de Oriente project is running behind schedule. Unexpected geological problems are the reason for the delay to the project’s completion. However the builders have assured the client that the delay will not increase the cost of the project. The tunnel, located in Colombia’s Antioquia Department, was due for completion in December 2018 but will now be ready by May 2019.

Plans are being drawn up for the project to drive a new undersea tunnel in Southern China to improve transport links between Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The tunnel itself will be around 1.1km long but the project will also include building a 4.45km stretch of road in the Dachan Bay area and a 2.5km stretch of road in Qianhai.

The recent fatal bridge disaster in the Italian city of Genoa has triggered questions being asked about the state of France’s bridges. And with around 33% of France’s 12,000 or so bridges now known to require repairs, there is an understandable cause for concern.

Financing from China is playing a key role in in supporting the development of the transport infrastructure network in the Philippines. In all 18 major projects are planned to be carried out during the current administration in the Philippines, with the work benefiting from a colossal US$13.75 billion in funding from China. Both grants and loans make up the funding. The major road projects include those for the Davao City Expressway, the Camarines Sur Expressway and the North Luzon Expressway East. They

Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council, (FEC) is giving its approval for an upgrade of the road running from Akwanga to Gombe. The 421km section of the A3 runs between Akwanga, Jos, Bauchi and Gombe and provides an important link between the centre of the country and Nigeria’s north east. A budget of US$973.6 million has been set for the work, which is expected to take four years to complete. The work involves widening the existing two lane highway into a dual carriageway with two lanes in either direction

An upgrade is planned for the National Highway 6, connecting Ghana’s capital Accra with the country’s second city, Kumasi. The work is intended to boost both capacity and safety as the 250km-long route is one of the country’s busiest and is currently heavily congested, while it has a poor safety record. Construction work is expected to commence at the end of 2018 and the upgrade will see the route being widened so that it features two lanes in either direction. A major upgrade has been planned on the

Mexico’s road, highway and bridge building programme is continuing, with new routes under construction. US$327.4 million has been spent on rebuilding existing roads and building new links in the Baja California region. Maintenance has been carried out on 1,873km of Mexico’s Federal Road network. A further $120 million has been used to upgrade the border link between Tijuana Airport and the city of San Diego in the US state of California.

The UK’s Lighthouse Club is holding a charity dinner in the Scottish city of Glasgow on the 23rd November 2018. The event will help to raise funds for the charity. The Lighthouse Club was set up to provide financial and emotional support to those in the construction community and their families who have suffered an injury or long term illness. The dinner will be held at Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel, starting at 6.30pm.