Four executives with one of the largest construction firms in South America, Camargo Correa, were arrested by Brazilian police Wednesday in connection with a year-long corruption probe. A total of ten employees of the firm were arrested as federal police carried out a series of raids on the company’s offices in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero — part of an investigation named Operation Sand Castle. Photo: C.J. Schexnayder The Campos Novos dam in southern Brazil built by Camargo Correa and completed in 2006. Investigators with Brazil’s federal prosecutor’s office specializing in financial crimes say Camargo Correa was laundering money
As Venezuela’s government has undertaken the difficult task of recasting its budget to handle the new economic pressures — notably the precipitous fall in oil prices — construction interests are watching the developments with concern. In a nationally-televised announcement last Saturday, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez unveiled a new initiative of austerity measures and tax hikes to meet the country’s growing budget shortfall. More than 90 percent of Venezuela’s export revenue comes from oil whose prices have plummeted more than 50% in the past nine months. Photo: Odebrecht The so-called “third bridge” over the Orinoco River in Venezuela being built by
LIMA, Peru — Peruvian officials have announced a plan to construct an elevator to access the famed "lost city" of the Incas, Machu Picchu, in an effort to bolster tourism to the No. 1 visited site in South America. The regional tourism board for the Department of Cusco — DIRCETUR-Cusco — floated the project as part of its Regional Strategic Plan drawn up last year and completed in February. Image Photo: C.J. Schexnaydere Access to Peru’s famous Machu Picchu ruins is via a dusty dirt road that ascends almost 1,500 feet from the Urubamba River to the ridge where the
When the financial crisis originally struck in the United States in 2007, the initial effect in Latin America was muted. That changed last year as the dramatic drop in purchases pounded commodity prices — the backbone of most Latin economies. Moreover, as investors began seeking safe havens the availability of funding shrank as well. Photo: C.J. Schexnayder Sao Paulo's Rodoanel Mario Covas, a 170-km loop encircling Brazil's largest city, is one of the key infrastructure projects officials hope will bolster the country's flagging economy. As a result, since late last year, countries across South America have launched a variety of
Three international consortiums submitted bids on Tuesday to design and build the new sets of locks for the ongoing $5.2-billion expansion of the Panama Canal. Photo: C.J. Schexnayder/ENR A cargo ship enters the Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. Photo: Panama Canal Authority A computer illustration of the proposed locks for the Panama Canal third lane expansion project. Officials with the Panama Canal Authority – the quasi-governmental organization that oversees the waterway’s administration often known by its Spanish-language acronym, ACP – accepted bids in a ceremony in Panama. The canal authority has previously projected the lock
While cement remains the most widely used building material in the world, its ubiquity has proven to be a blessing and a curse for large cement companies. Stalled construction worldwide has spurred a dramatic slump in sales for the three largest cement manufacturers, Cemex, Lafarge and Holcim, whose acquisition debt has just made financial matters even worse. Photo: C.J. Schexnayder / ENR Cemex’s only presence at World of Concrete was a mixer in the Peterbilt booth. With prospects dour for 2009—Cemex expects demand to drop 15% in the U.S. this year—the pressure on the firms’ bottom lines has only increased.
One of the most noticeable absences at the World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas earlier this month was Cemex — the third largest cement producer and largest in North America. In fact, the only trace of the Monterrey, Mexico-based firm this year was a truck on display in the Peterbilt exhibit painted with the company’s distinctive red, white and blue design. Photo: C.J. Schexnayder A photograph of a cement truck painted with the Cemex logo in the Peterbilt exhibit at this year’s World of Concrete show in Las Vegas, NV. Photo: C.J. Schexnayder A Cemex plant south of
Hundreds of dinosaur tracks and fossils estimated more than 120 million years old have been discovered during construction of a mining road in the highlands of Central Peru. Officials with the Antamina mining company announced the find last week. Photo: Compañía Minera Antamina S.A. Dinosaur footprints discovered during road construction in Central Peru. The discovery was originally made in 2006 during the construction of a road by the company between a crossroads at Conococha and the Antamina’s Yanacancha camp about 250 miles northeast of Lima. A preliminary examination of the site - since dubbed Cruz Planta - uncovered dozens of
Costa Rica-based Constructora Meco, S.A. submitted a $36.7-million bid, the lowest of six offerings submitted for the third of four dry excavation contracts as part of the Panama Canal Third-Lane Expansion Project. Barring a successful protest or reversal based on technicalities, the firm is the apparent winner. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) will now review the submissions to determine the lowest-priced bid that meets all of the requirements stated in the request for proposals. The winning bid is expected to be announced before the end of the year. Constructora Meco’s bid is 4% below a $38.2-million bid by Constructora Urbana,
President George W. Bush has appointed C.W. (Bill) Ruth to serve as United States Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission. Ruth, a 25-year-veteran of the agency who retired in 1998, was sworn in and assumed his duties on Nov. 24. The post had been left vacant with the death of the previous commissioner and his Mexican counterpart in a plane crash two months ago. International Boundary and Water Commission deals transboundary issues along the U.S.-Mexico border that include flood control, sanitation, boundary demarcation and mapping. It traces its history back to 1889 although its current incarnation was established