It is reported that Australia is gearing up for an AUD 112 billion infrastructure boom with new ports and railways being built to feed China and India appetite for raw materials like coal and iron ore.

There are plans to build 4,000 kilometers of new railroads over the next decade, as well as to construct a new port on the Great Barrier Reef coast.

Australia with a population 40% smaller than California spent USD 176.5 billion on construction in the 12 months to September 2011 and the planned schemes mean it is now considered the world fastest-growing construction market.

Queensland aims to boost capacity of its ports by 28 times to 385 million tonnes from the current 15 million tonnes, through the expansion beginning in 2014 of the Abbot Point coal port.

Located between a salt marsh and a lagoon of the Great Barrier Reef, the planned expansion would mean the new port would exceed by about 40% the volumes being handled by Qinhuangdao port in China, the world’s largest dry-bulk harbour.

There are also plans to dredge more than 112 million cubic metres from the Great Barrier Reef area. The federal government has so far approved the dredging of 52 million cubic metres.

(Sourced from www.ifw-net.com)