Dohwa to supervise El Salvador's US$400mn Los Chorros project

South Korean company Dohwa Engineering has been chosen to supervise construction of El Salvador’s US$400mn Francisco Morazán viaduct and the expansion of CA01W highway, also called Los Chorros project. 

“We have the winning company which would be Dohwa. We are currently in the no-objection stage and after this we’ll notify the companies. We’ll now have the supervision and the construction [contracts awarded],” public works and transport minister Romeo Rodríguez said in a radio interview. 

The official added that the company awarded the construction contract – Dongbu Corporation – has asked for it to be signed in mid-May.  

“The project is running at full speed. The companies are preparing by shipping machinery, equipment and staff, among other items,” said Rodríguez. 

Two companies participated in the bidding for the supervision contract: Dohwa Engineering, which presented a US$12.4mn offer, and a consortium formed by Pyungh Engineering and Spain’s Intecsa-Inarsa that submitted a US$15.3mn bid.

On April 24, Rodríguez said it was “highly likely” that Dohwa Engineering would be chosen for the supervision contract as it had presented the lowest offer. 

Seoul-based Dongbu was the only bidder in the construction tender, and the government confirmed that the contract was awarded to it in mid-April. 

According to the public works and transport ministry (MOPT), under the terms of a loan granted by Korea Eximbank, along with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei), the government was required to pick Korean companies for the works.

Along with building the viaduct, the project involves widening a 15km stretch of the highway to eight lanes in the municipalities of Santa Tecla, Colón and San Juan Opico in La Libertad to the west of San Salvador. The work is divided into three sections.