international
construction
january-february 2015
6
W
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p
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ank fo
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ank (
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red
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GERMANY
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unt
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PARAGUAY
Th
e Int
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D
ev
el
o
p
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B
ank (
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B
)
h
as ap
p
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ed
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$
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il
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o
an t
o
finance t
h
e
up
g
rad
e o
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h
e S
an J
uanNep
o
m
uceno
-
Em
p
al
m
e R
ut
aNacio
nal
No
.
6
h
ig
h
w
ay,
w
h
ich
l
inks t
h
e D
ep
art
m
ent
s
o
f Caaz
ap
á
,
It
ap
ú
a and
Al
t
o
Paraná
t
o
Parag
uay’
s m
ain riv
er p
o
rt
s.
Th
e
sch
em
e w
il
l
see t
h
e im
p
ro
v
em
ent
o
f
8
5 km
o
f m
ain ro
ad
s and
4
.
8
km
o
f
access ro
ad
s.
AUSTRIA
Anup
g
rad
e and
refurbish
m
ent
o
f Aust
ria’
s rail
net
w
o
rk
is being
financed
w
it
h
a
€
6
00
m
il
l
io
n (
US
$
6
7
5 m
il
l
io
n)
l
o
an fro
m
t
h
e Euro
p
ean Inv
est
m
ent
B
ank (
EIB
)
.
Pl
anned
w
o
rk incl
ud
es im
p
ro
v
em
ent
o
f
t
racks,
st
at
io
ns,
brid
g
es,
sig
nal
l
ing
&
t
el
eco
m
m
unicat
io
ns eq
uip
m
ent
and
a
series o
f el
ect
rificat
io
n p
ro
ject
s.
HIGHLIGHTS
GLOBAL
Europedominates
costliest
construction table
Currency fl
uct
uat
io
ns a key d
riv
er in ch
ang
ing
ind
ust
ry co
st
s aro
und
t
h
e wo
rld
A
new study has revealed that eight of the world’s tenmost expensive
places to build are withinEurope.The annual survey by consultancy
Arcadis found that Switzerland was the costliest location for
construction, followedbyDenmark,HongKong, Sweden, Australia, France,
Austria, theUK,Germany andBelgium.
As part of the company’s International Construction Cost Report, it
analysedbuildingcosts in43countries across theglobe. It found that relative
construction costs have been affected by currency fluctuations, commodity
prices andgreater demand for development inmany countries during2014.
Results from the report showed that the relative strength of the UK’s
currency against the Eurowas another significant factor –with the average
cost of construction in central London alone said to be higher than
Switzerland.
The study found that the least costly places in the world for construction
includedMalaysia,Vietnam and India, which arenow around35% cheaper
for construction projects than in theUK.
Simon Rawlinson, Arcadis’ head of strategic research, said, “Growing
economic stability in parts of the Euro Zone has led to European nations
dominating the top ten for building costs. This is at the expense of
some Asian states such as Singapore, Macau and Japan, where currency
devaluations have seen them drop down the rankings.
“Japan, in particular, has seen the relative cost of construction fall
considerably over the last year and the market is now more competitive
than that of theUS.”
US
Rail ground
broken
The California High-Speed Rail
Authority held a ground-breaking
ceremony for theUS state’s planned
high-speed line in Fresno on
January 6.
The first phase of the work –
ConstructionPackage1–comprises
a 29 mile (47 km) stretch of track
through the city of Fresno, linking
it to the town of Madera to the
north.The design& build contract
for this package was awarded to a
consortium ofTutor Perini, Zachry
and Parsons in April 2013, which
wonwith aUS$ 985million bid.
The California High-Speed Rail
project is envisaged as a 1,300 km
network comprising 24 stations.
Its main aim is to link the major
population centres of Los Angeles
and San Francisco, with a journey
time between the two cities of
2 hours 40 minutes. Further
extension would link in the state
capital Sacramento in the North
and SanDiego in the South.
The initial 209 km segment will
link Madera, to Corcoran. State
funding of US$ 6.95 billion for
this was approved in 2012. The
total cost of the Los Angeles to San
Franciscoproject is put atUS$65.4
billion toUS$ 74.5 billion.
A survey by the AssociatedGeneral
Contractors of America (AGC)
has found 80% of its member
companies plan to increase staff
numbers this year.Only7%plan to
reduce headcount.
“Contractors
are
extremely
optimistic about the outlook for
2015,” said AGC chief executive
Stephen E. Sandherr. “Indeed,
if their predictions prove true,
industry employment could expand
this year by themost in a decade.”
Mr Sandherr said the number
of contractors planning to add
employees – 80% – in 2015, is
significantly higher than in 2014,
whenonly57% reported theyadded
to their headcount.However,many
that plan to hire this year expect to
US
Expansionplans
make only modest increases, with
90% of the contractors that expect
to add employees saying they will
expandby aquarter or less this year.
Growing demand for private-
sector construction should drive
growth in 2015 according to the
AGC. Contractors were said to be
most optimistic about the retail/
warehouse/lodging segment and
areas of public sector.
However, the AGC said this
planned growth is not without its
problems. The association’s chief
economist Ken Simonson said,
“Despite the overall optimism,
some challenges remain for the
industry. As firms expand, theywill
continue to have difficulty finding
skilled constructionworkers.”
