Chiloe bridge could hinge on govt. guarantee

Chile's public works, transport & telecommunications (MOP) minister Javier Etcheberry has submitted a proposal to the finance ministry that calls for the government to provide a guarantee for the Chiloe Island bridge project, El Mercurio and Diario Financiero reported. El Mercurio reports that a study carried out by international insurance agency MBIA earlier this year, at the request of the public works ministry, concluded that the only way for the US$350mn project to be economically feasible is for the government to provide a guarantee. If the finance ministry approves the proposal, it would go on to congress for approval. In September, the MOP pushed back the bidding deadline, which had been envisioned for end-October, to February at the prospective bidders' request. A previous call resulted in no bids. The project entails building a 2.64km four-lane traffic bridge across the Chacao Canal to Chiloe, as well as some 13.5km of access roads on each side. The concessionaire would operate the bridge for 30 years, recouping investment through tolls. Studies in 2002 estimated that some 3,000 vehicles/day would initially use the bridge, increasing to 15,000 in 2040. Consorcio Puente Bicentenario (Germany's Hochtief, the US' American Bridge and Chilean firms Besalco and Tecsa), Sweden's Skanska, France's Vinci and Grupo Challenger (France's Bouygues, Travaux Publics, the UK's Cleveland, Chile's Delta, Japan's IHI and France's Egis), are listed on the ministry's website as the project's interested bidders.