Finance & Funding

The East West Connect consortium is set to abandon Melbourne’s East West Link contract in return for a payment of between US$400 million and $535 million, according to media reports. But the Victoria state government is challenging the claim by East West Connect whose partners include Lend Lease, Acciona, Capella Capital and Bouygues. Instead, the government wants East West to payback around $153 million which the consortium allegedly received when the toll road contract was signed, reported the Herald Sun

The Indonesian government is getting ready to tender for major infrastructure projects including roads to be developed under public-private partnership (PPP) contracts, the Jakarta Post reported. Public Works and Public Housing minister Basuki Hadimuljono said in Jakarta that the first priorities would be on the 94km Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road, the 7km Manado-Bitung toll road in North Sulawesi and a drinking water treatment system project in western Semarang, central Java. The projects will prove that P

Istanbul is often said to be where Europe meets Asia, geographically and culturally. This September the great city will also be the focus of the International Road Federation’s 1st Europe & Central Asia Regional Congress. The congress will be an exceptional opportunity for anyone, especially from Europe and Asia, involved in major road projects to connect and network with ministers, road agency heads and local government leaders. But time is running out to be among the prestigious speakers and presenters at

Costs have climbed for construction work on a highway connection in Ecuador. The highway project is now expected to cost in excess of US$100 million to build. The widening work for the 42km stretch connecting Cuenca and Biblian being carried out by contractor Hidalgo & Hidalgo has climbed to over $100 million, compared with the $72 million planned originally. The climbing construction cost can be connected to the need for unplanned additional activities on the project. This additional work has also meant th

While demand in some parts of Asia is strong, other countries such as China have been suffering from oversupply - World Highways reported from the Argus Asia-Pacific and Middle East Bitumen Conference in Singapore. Asia overtook the Americas as the world’s largest consumer of bitumen in 2012, with China accounting for the lion’s share – nearly two-thirds – of consumption. However, attendees at the Argus Asia-Pacific and Middle East Bitumen Conference held in Singapore on 24th-26th September last year heard

Major plans for infrastructure investment have been set out by the authorities in China’s Gansu Province. In all some US$79.9 billion is planned to be spent over the next six years. One of the key aims of this infrastructure programme is to improve China’s transport links with Central Asia. In all the programme of works calls for the construction of 60,000km of roads, including 4,070km of expressways. There are also plans to improve 12 commercial airports in Gansu Province. The sources of funding required f

Kazak and EBRD officials visited London to highlight the possibility of a public-private partnership under the country’s revised PPP legal framework. David Arminas reports. To build a road, you go on the road, and that is what Kazakhstan did in London in mid-December. Representatives of more than 100 organisations, a mix of construction companies and financial institutions, attended the roadshow-style presentation to attract foreign capital for BAKAD, the Almaty Ring Road Concession. The message was that Ka

Sri Lanka’s proposed northern highway project is being reviewed and looks likely to be put out to tender shortly. The country’s new administration previously suspended the project due to issues with non-transparent tenders as well as concerns over its high cost. The project was estimated to cost around US$2.26 billion, which the country’s new administration deemed of concern. At the end of 2014 a number of contractors were awarded work to several sections of the expressway linking Jaffna with capital Colomb

Heavy equipment auction specialist Ritchie Bros set a record for a recent event in Florida. The firm sold over 10,500 items of heavy equipment items and trucks at the auction, held last week in Orlando, Florida. The five-day unreserved public auction ran from February 16th – 20th and attracted over 9,350 bidders who made offers either in person at the event or online. The bidders came from 81 countries while the auction generated over $179 million in gross auction proceeds. This included over $66 million of

Mexico is cutting its planned motorway construction budget. The country's Secretariat for Transport and Communications (SCT) has said the budget will be cut by US$268.8 million, a reduction of 17% from the figure planned originally. The 130 different projects that were to have been carried out under the original budget will still be built, but a number may be delayed. Road construction has been a key priority for this government in Mexico. In all some 46 new motorways will have been constructed by the prese