Finance & Funding

A series of road concessions will be put out to tender in Colombia. The country’s government intends to put 11,000km of road projects out for concession by December 2018. So far 34 of the 4G highway tenders have been set into motion, including 17 as contracts, another 14 that have been awarded and three that are in the process of being awarded. Two projects from the second phase of the 4G road programme, the Sisga-El Secreto highway and the Puerta de Hierro project, have been given the green light to start

Brazil will spend at least US$1.63 billion in privately operated federal road infrastructure projects in 2015. This is down slightly, from $1.82 billion spent in 2014, according to estimates by the land transport agency NTT. Work this year includes a stretch of the BR-050 motorway operated by MGO, which already has seen around $104 million. Road operator Concer, which administers sections of the BR-060, BR-153 and BR-262, invested nearly $88 million between 2014 and the first quarter of 2015. Arter

The new platform system MXK from German-based manufacturer Peri is easily assembled to suit site requirements. The flexible platform system with lightweight brackets is assembled at ground level, using lightweight components – scaffold support bracket stop-end rails, guardrail posts, the scaffold deck and the side mesh barriers PMB. Flexibility is the key, said Peri UK managing director Alasdair Stables during an indoor demonstration day held in the docklands area of the UK capital London. The object

Germany’s audit office is calling for increased spending on roads maintenance. The audit office has criticised the road and autobahn budget set by Germany’s Ministry of Transport for the 2016 to 2030 period. The German Government has set its €3.8 billion annual spending for the 2011 to 2025 period based on the conditions of roads in 2010. However the audit office says that the future costs will be much higher.

In the US state of Maryland, a joint venture of Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson (JMT) and Parsons Brinckerhoff has won a contract to replace the Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge. The Maryland Transportation Authority awarded the $1 billion contract to replace the bridge, also known as the Potomac River Bridge and which was opened in 1940. The tolled 2.7km two-lane continuous truss bridge on US 301 spans the Potomac River between Newburg in Maryland and Dahlgren in the state of Virginia. Construction of the