Costs climb for Ecuador highway connection

Costs have climbed for construction work on a highway connection in Ecuador. The highway project is now expected to cost in excess of US$100 million to build. The widening work for the 42km stretch connecting Cuenca and Biblian being carried out by contractor Hidalgo & Hidalgo has climbed to over $100 million, compared with the $72 million planned originally. The climbing construction cost can be connected to the need for unplanned additional activities on the project. This additional work has also meant that the project will take longer than expected. The work was planned to be complete by May 2015 but will now take an additional eight months.