Finance & Funding

Chile’s Ministry of Public Works (MOP) has revealed an ambitious plan for bridge projects. The MOP has set a budget of US$1.48 billion to be used for a range of bridge projects for the 2018-2023 time period. In all 229 bridges are included in the programme of works, with structures due for maintenance and upgrade work.

The final contract for the Banja Luka-Prijedor motorway in Bosnia will be signed with China Shandong International and Technical Cooperation in September. The construction and 30-year operating concession is with Republika Srpska, an autonomous region of Bosnia e Herzegovina. Value of the contract is around €297 million, according to Nedjo Trninic, the minister of transport for Republika Srpska. Funding will be secured by the Chinese company and in cooperation with Autoputevi RS, Republika Srpska’s hi

UK materials supplier Hanson has taken delivery of the first of 40 low-entry Mercedes Econic cabbed ready-mixed concrete trucks. Hanson said that the low-entry vehicles reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to road safety. The Euro 6-engined trucks have a panoramic glass cab and are fitted with 360° cameras. This, coupled with the lower driving position, says Hanson, significantly improves the driver’s visibility of cyclists and pedestrians, particularly on the near side, according to Hanson. The high

The funding for a stretch of Sri Lanka’s Central Expressway project now looks to have been secured. A loan of nearly US$904 million from Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) will provide the necessary finance package for the project. The route of the Central Expressway runs from Colombo to Dambulla, having originally been called the Northern Expressway Project. This latest funding package will help pay for work to the 32.5km link running off to the east at Pothuhera and running to Galagedara, close

A new expressway project is being planned for India’s Uttar Pradesh State. A loan worth US$1.75 billion is being provided by the Punjab National Bank that will help pay for the construction of the route. Building the new expressway is expected to take three years to complete. Revenue from the tolls collected will be used to pay back the loan inn a series of installments.

Technology groups and agencies have until August 16 to enter the Transport-Technology Research Innovation for International Development (T-TRIID) competition. Under the Applied Research Programme in High Volume Transport (HVT), the competition funds short projects for safer and more efficient transport within low-income countries in Africa and South Asia. The programme is implemented by development and infrastructure agency IMC Worldwide, supported by the Knowledge Transfer Network – a UK agency for p