Misicuni tunnel works start

Italian-Bolivian consortium Astaldi-ICE started a 14-month project this week to finalize development of the 19km, US$60mn tunnel designed to draw water from the Misicuni reservoir to Cochabamba valley in central Bolivia, local news reported. Contractors have already excavated land and must line about one-quarter of the tunnel, project sources told BNamericas. Works end a yearlong pause in tunnel lining that resulted from legal disputes between the consortium and project leader, Empresa Misicuni. The project will eventually entail developing a dam in two stages along the Misicuni reservoir; final studies are expected this month for works. Once project funding is identified, officials will launch bidding for a contract to develop the dam's first phase. The first phase entails developing an 85m, US$50mn dam in the Misicuni reservoir, which will provide some 2,200 l/s of water to central Bolivia's Cochabamba city by end-2006. A separate contractor would expand the dam to 120m in phase two, though a timeline has not been established for such works. The infrastructure will eventually yield 6,600 l/s of drinking and irrigation water. Planners expect to invest US$14mn - possibly with financing from the Andean Development Corporation - for "immediate works" designed to draw 400 l/s of water from the tunnel for Cochabamba's use. These works, expected to last just over a year, could occur alongside Astaldi-ICE's project.