WORLD NEWS
2013
International Construction
Economic Forum (ICEF)
November 20 – 22, 2013
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Excon 2013
November 20 – 24 , 2013
Bangalore, India
MS Africa & Middle East
December 9 – 12, 2013
Cairo, Egypt
2014
Intermat Middle East
January 14 – 16, 2014
Abu Dhabi, UAE
World of Concrete
January 21 – 24, 2014
(Seminars 20 – 24 January)
Las Vegas, US
ConExpo-Con/Agg 2014
March 4 – 8, 2014
Las Vegas, US
SMOPYC 2014
April 1 – 5, 2014
Zaragoza, Spain
Samoter 2014
May 8 – 11, 2014
Verona Exhibition Centre
Verona, Italy
APEX (Access Platform
Exhibition)
June 24-26, 2014
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
IRE (International Rental
Exhibition)
June 24-26, 2014
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Hillhead 2014
June 24 – 26, 2014
Hillhead Quarry
Buxton, UK
EXHIBITION DIARY
7
november 2013
international
construction
CANADA
The Arctic Infrastructure
Partners consortium has won the
CA$ 300 million (US$ 290 million)
contract to design, build, maintain
and operate a new 10,000 m
2
terminal at Iqaluit International
Airport on the edge of the Arctic
Circle in Canada, along with a
4,500 m
2
services building. The
concession, which will run for 34
years, also includes the extension
and refurbishment of 400,000 m
2
of runways and parking areas for
planes. The consortium comprises
Bouygues subsidiaries Bouygues
Building Canada and Sintra,
which is part of the company’s
road building arm, Colas, along
with Infrared Capital Partners
and Winnipeg Airports Authority.
Construction is scheduled to start in
spring 2014, with handover planned
for December 2017.
EUROPE
New trans-
European
corridors
proposed
European Union financing for
transport infrastructure is set to
triple between 2014 and 2020 to
€ 26 billion (US$ 35.8 billion),
and new maps of the major trans-
European corridors have been
drawn up.
In what it describes as the most
radical overhaul of EU infrastructure
policy since its inception in the
1980s, the European Commission
has published the new maps
showing nine major corridors..
There are two north-south
corridors proposed, together with
three east-west, and four diagonal.
The core network, which is
planned to be completed by 2030,
will connect 94 main European
ports with rail and road links, 38
key airports with rail connections
into major cities, 15,000 km of
railway line upgraded to high speed
and 35 cross-border projects to
reduce bottlenecks.
It is estimated that the cost of
implementing the first financing
phase for the core network for 2014
to 2020 will be € 250 billion (US$
345 billion).
Contractor Leighton has launched
litigation aiming to recover AU$
5.6 million (US$ 5.3 million) in
damages from a former employee or
alleged breaches of contractual and
fiduciary duties.
It has also confirmed that a
separate, confidential investigation
by the Australian Federal Police
(AFP) over alleged bribery in Iraq
was still on-going.
After a number of internal
investigations relating to a project
in Indonesia by Leighton Offshore,
the contractor said it had now taken
action in the New South Wales
Supreme Court.
AUSTRALIA
Corruption concerns
resurface at Leighton
Meanwhile, the company, which
is majority-owned by Spanish
contractor ACS, said it continued
to co-operate with a separate
AFP investigation into Leighton
Offshore’s activities in Iraq.
In February 2012, the contractor
self-reported a possible breach
of Australian laws relating to
payments in Iraq. These payments
were allegedly connected to the
expansion of offshore facilities for
Iraq’s crude oil exports.
The contractor later fired a senior
manager after an internal review
of the Iraq projects identified
governance failures.
Erna Solberg, the new Prime
Minister of Norway, has pledged to
establish a NOK 100 billion (US$
17 billion), five-year infrastructure
fund, paid for by oil revenues.
The fund would be used to boost
the construction of roads, railways,
broadband internet and other
infrastructure, including renewable
energy and natural gas.
Investments would be made
through a state-owned company
NORWAY
Infrastructure fund
that would be funded by the
government, but would also be
allowed to borrow abroad.
“Infrastructure investments are as
important as the fiscal rule and it’s
important for the government to
invest for the future and help our
children to inherit a society with
equal welfare,” Ms Solberg said,
adding, “We need to strengthen
our competitiveness and secure
Norwegian jobs.”
