Finance & Funding

Funding for major infrastructure rebuilding work in Puerto Rico has now been secured. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has provided a budget of US$135 million, which will be used to repair roads and bridges in Puerto Rico that were damaged by hurricane Maria. This budget should be sufficient to pay for 90% of the work needed. However the source of the remaining 10% of the infrastructure repair budget has yet to be announced.

Work is starting in Nigeria for a major upgrading project of the dual carriageway connecting the cities of Aba and Port Harcourt. Situated in the south east of the country, the road link provides an important connection both to and from Port Harcourt. In recent years the road has become extremely potholed, so much so that heavy trucks have switched to other routes instead. This is a major problem as Port Harcourt is one of Nigeria’s key industrial cities. The plans call for the reconstruction of the route

Kubota has invested nearly €1.4 million to enhance operational performance and standards at its UK headquarters in Thame, England. The investment includes expanding its office and meeting room space and completed groundworks resurfacing for better traffic flow around the site. Also included has been refurbishment to its Training Academy and Research & Development Centre. Other improvements include installation of a cantilever racking system to streamline inventory processes and to hold more stock to maint

The latest addition to Goldhofer’s STZ-VP family is the “big boy”, whose 285mm tyres makes it the company’s loader semi-trailer with the highest load-carrying capacity. It has proven pendular axle technology available in configurations between three and 10 axles as well as a choice of decks - vessel bridge, crawler deck and flatbed. It also has a technically permissible axle load of around 15.5tonnes and a deck profile of only 200mm for the flatbed, putting it slimmest on the market, according to Goldhofer

Kobelco Construction Machinery and Kobelco Cranes will merge their European hydraulic excavator and crane sales and service operations. Following the consolidation with Kobelco Cranes in April 2016, Kobelco Construction Machinery (KCM) has been reorganising and consolidating its group companies across the globe. As part of this, the construction machinery division will reorganise its structure in Europe “to improve efficiency, strengthen product development capabilities and effectively use management resou

Atlas Copco changed its corporate structure at the start of this year. Its Hydraulic Attachment Tools division will become part of Epiroc, pending shareholder approval this year. Atlas Copco will become two separate global groups of companies. Atlas Copco will focus on industrial customers while Epiroc will concentrate on mining, infrastructure and natural resources equipment. The hydraulic attachment tools division manufactures excavator attachment tools such as hydraulic breakers, cutters, pulverisers,

German engine manufacturer Deutz saw new orders rise in the first quarter 2018 by nearly 43% per cent year-on-year to almost €575 million. The figure for the corresponding period in 2017 was €403 million, while in the fourth quarter of 2017 it was nearly €383 million. The company said that the significant rise in new orders was partly due to very favourable business conditions as well as to changed customer procurement behaviour. In the light of the strong demand and the introduction of emissions standard

Concerns over financing are delaying progress on Kenya’s massive highway connection project. The new highway between the capital Nairobi and the country’s premier port of Mombasa is expected to cost in the region of US$3.5 billion. Construction is being managed by the US contractor Bechtel, which is sourcing suitable funding from private firms and has considerable experience of building highways in developing nations. But the sheer scale of this project, one of the country’s largest since its independence,

Nigeria’s longest concrete road should be open by the end of the year, according to AG-Dangot, contractor on the project. Around 33km of earthworks and 23km of pavement have been completed for the 44km Obajana–Kabba project in Kogi state, according to Ashif Juma, managing director of AG-Dangote. Nigerian media reported that Juma also urged all of Nigeria’s governments and councils to switch from asphalt to concrete road construction because concrete requires less maintenance. To this end, the Obajana-Kabba

Kenya has blamed design changes for delaying the start of work on a road linking the port of Mombasa to the Tansanian port of Tanga. The change to the key road’s design is from a single to dual carriageway along a section of the 445km transnational highway. However, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the principal financier of the project, said the Kenyan government itself was slow in completing preliminary studies, such as road designs, in order to start construction.