Mayor: 2nd Parana bridge to be put out to concession

A second bridge to be built over the Parana river between Brazil and Paraguay will be put out to concession, La Nacion quoted Blas Barboza, mayor of the Paraguayan municipality of Presidente Franco as saying. The bridge would connect Presidente Franco with Foz de Yguacu in Brazil and carries an estimated price tag of US$100mn-130mn. Barboza, who made the announcement following the visit of a bi-national technical commission, was also quoted as saying that the bridge would also include a railroad, although work on the rail component would not begin until 2010. The commission is slated to meet again in next quarter to discuss financing options, the bridge's exact location and other details. In October, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Paraguayan counterpart Nicanor Duarte signed an agreement to push forward the bridge's construction.