Chile to tender US$490mn Route 5 concession in 2021

Chile’s public works ministry (MOP) plans to tender a new concession for a section of the main north-south highway, Route 5, during 2021, which will link Iquique (Tarapacá region) and Antofagasta city (Antofagasta region).

After a presentation of the US$490mn project to Antofagasta’s regional governor Marco Díaz, the head of the ministry‘s regional office, Edgar Blanco, said the concession is in the studies phase until next year, according to a ministry press release.

Consulting firm GOC Group presented the project as a private initiative in 2014 and the national concessions panel declared it of public interest in December 2016, documents show.

The concession would entail turning 340km between Carmen Alto (Antofagasta) and Pozo Almonte (Tarapacá) into a four-lane highway, building two bypasses and a 48km service lane, among other tasks.

The ministry added that a new presentation, which will include the advances made in the studies phase, is slated for the second half of this year.

Blanco said the studies phase for the government’s US$460mn Antofagasta-Caldera concession is expected to finish this year, with tender launch planned for late 2020.

The Sacyr-back project entails widening 469km between the city of Antofagasta and Caldera municipality in neighboring Atacama region into a four-lane highway.