Skip to main content

Additional Argentina-Chile tunnel project proposed

An agreement has been reached between Chile and Argentina over a long discussed tunnel project. The proposed tunnel would stretch 11.5km and connect Argentina’s Mendoza Province with Chile’s Region VI, with the project having first been mooted as far back as 1992. The cost of the proposed Paso Las Lenas Tunnel has yet to be revealed although the projected route through the Andes Mountains has been announced. The tunnel portals will be some 2,050m above sea level and the project will include the construction
January 9, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
An agreement has been reached between Chile and Argentina over a long discussed tunnel project. The proposed tunnel would stretch 11.5km and connect Argentina’s Mendoza Province with Chile’s Region VI, with the project having first been mooted as far back as 1992. The cost of the proposed Paso Las Lenas Tunnel has yet to be revealed although the projected route through the Andes Mountains has been announced. The tunnel portals will be some 2,050m above sea level and the project will include the construction of a 60km highway in Argentina, as well as 13km of highway in Chile.

The two countries are already working jointly on the Agua Negra Tunnel project, which will also run through the Andes Mountain range and is expected to open to traffic in 2025. The Agua Negra Tunnel will form part of either the Mercosur route or the central bi-oceanic corridor, linking the Chilean port city of Coquimbo with Porto Alegre in Brazil.

Related Content

  • Work for Argentina’s famous highway
    May 20, 2025
    Work is underway for a key stretch of Argentina’s famous Route 40 highway.
  • Chile-Argentina Agua Negra Tunnel latest news
    September 28, 2017
    Interest is strong in the project to build the Agua Negra Tunnel, which will connect Chile and Argentina. So far 10 consortia have been pre-selected to enter the bidding process for the project. However Ebitan, the joint Chilean/Agentinian commission with responsibility for the project has said it will not release the names of the consortia that have been pre-selected until November 2017 instead.
  • Chile-Argentina tunnel loan for bidding
    December 14, 2016
    Further progress is being made with the Agua Negra Tunnel project, which will connect Chile with Argentina. A loan worth US$40 million is being provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). This loan will help deliver the bidding process for the project. Several bidders are being pre-qualified for the tender process. Construction of the tunnel itself is expected to take eight ant a half years with the work estimated to cost $1.6 billion. The tunnel will provide a safer and more reliable route than
  • Chile-Argentina tunnel project to take nine years
    May 3, 2017
    Construction work for the Agua Negra tunnel connecting Argentina with Chile is expected to take nine years to complete. The actual construction work will commence in 2019, although considerable activity will be required beforehand. Building the tunnel is expected to cost in the orders of US$1.5 billion. Much of the financing for the project is being provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). So far the IADB has given $20 million to Argentina and a further $20 million to Chile to pay for the nec