Construction starts on final Polvora hwy. tunnel

Construction of the La Polvora highway's last tunnel in central Chile's Region V began Tuesday, the public works ministry reported. The 2.5km-long tunnel - one of the country's longest - along with two smaller ones, make up the US$51mn phase three of the highway that will provide an alternative access road between port city Valparaiso and capital Santiago. This third phase should be ready in the first semester of 2006. Currently, some 2,800 vehicles/day pass through the center of the port city, of which 1,600 are trucks, while some 12,000/day - 4,700 of which will be trucks - will use the new highway to go to the port in 2020. Earlier this year, Ferrovial Agroman Chile won the contract to build the third and last stretch of the highway, while engineering consultants Zanartu and Idepe picked up a technical inspection advisory services contract for the same stretch.