Who says there’s no infrastructure money?

October 26, 2009 | Compiled and edited by Ron Bygness

Colombia commits to highways  

In Colombia, President Alvaro Uribe has underscored a government commitment to the Autopista de Las Americas highway project.

This project has an estimated cost of $4.43 billion (U.S.) and the Colombian government will contribute about 75% for the 1,090-km (676-mi) highway during the decade 2011–2021, according to World Highways.

Meanwhile, work on the extension of the Autopista Norte road in Bogota is making good progress, with an estimated 45% of the work completed by the end of September 2009. This project includes the construction of six new lanes—three each way—and is expected to reach completion by the end of 2009.

The Autopista Norte is expected to eventually include 10 lanes for mixed use by July 2010, in addition to two additional lanes that will be used for the city’s urban transport system, Transmilenio.

$1 billion for Ecuador’s roads

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has issued Ecuador a $1 billion (U.S.) loan for its projected road-building program.

The first $350 million of this loan will be used to help finance construction of a new bridge over the Babahoyo River. This project is designed to ease a current bottleneck in the road linking the port city of Guayaquil and the Duran canton.

The initial loan segment will also finance road maintenance and refurbishing on 810km (502mi) of paved roadways, including the E40 route that links Salinas, Santa Elena, and Guayaquil.

In a statement released in mid-October 2009, the IDB said, “These investments are expected to reduce transportation costs and travel time, improve road safety, and preserve infrastructure on key corridors within Ecuador’s road network.

“The loans will also strengthen the Ministry of Transportation and Public Work’s capacity for planning and managing infrastructure investments.”

The first $350 million loan segment is augmented by $16.5 million from Ecuador’s infrastructure budget.

India should invest in roads

A recent study funded by the World Bank (WB) says that India may need to invest $18.44 billion (U.S.) in its roadways by 2012 to achieve a high rate of growth, according to a news brief from World Highways. If roads are constructed at a medium pace, about half of this budget will be required by 2011–12. If the roads sector grows at a slower pace, then about one-third will be needed, the report stated.

The WB study is titled: “India’s Road Construction Industry: Capacity Issues, Constraints and Recommendations.”

Sochi road project awarded in Russia

Contractor Tonnelny Otryad-44 (TO-44) has started work on the construction of a relief road in Sochi, Russia, site of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

This project is for the first stage of the Kurortny Prospect relief road and the firm’s winning tender was $759 million (U.S.).

Moscow-based Mosinzhstroy, part of Infrastruktura owned by entrepreneur Roman Abramovich, will also work on the road project. Mosinzhstroy also intends to bid on the tender for the second stage of the relief road, scheduled for 2010.

A variety of transportation sources, including World Highways and World Construction, were used in the compilation of this report.

Ron Bygness is the editor of Geosynthetics magazine.

Comments

There are not yet any comments.
You can submit a comment using the form below.