Caminos Básicos hwy. program completes 4,000km

Chile's public works ministry has completed 4,000km of its Caminos Básicos highway improvement program that aims to upgrade 5,000km of rural roads, the ministry said. The 4,000km mark was reached with the completion of the Canteras-Villa Las Mercedes and Antuco-El Abanico roads in Region VIII. Since the program began in 2003, more than 60bn pesos (US$102mn) have been spent, which has improved 6.5% of the country's non-paved network. The program uses alternative materials such as bischofite, a natural compound made up of magnesium salts and table salt, which brings costs down from an average of 150mn pesos/km to 30mn-50mn pesos/km. Chile's highway network extends over 80,000km, of which 62,000km are not paved.