Skip to main content

Argentina-Chile Agua Negra tunnel passes key preliminary stage

The Argentinean Senate is giving preliminary approval for the Agua Negra tunnel project. This is a key stage in the planning for the tunnel, which will link Argentina and Chile. The preliminary stages involve discussing the Maipu Treaty and various procedural agreements between the governments of both countries, an important step forward from the frosty relations between the two nations in the past. Further discussions will be held by the authorities in Argentina while the Chilean Government will be evaluat
February 17, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The Argentinean Senate is giving preliminary approval for the Agua Negra tunnel project. This is a key stage in the planning for the tunnel, which will link Argentina and Chile. The preliminary stages involve discussing the Maipu Treaty and various procedural agreements between the governments of both countries, an important step forward from the frosty relations between the two nations in the past. Further discussions will be held by the authorities in Argentina while the Chilean Government will be evaluating the issues during March of this year. Once both governments have given their final approvals, the planning for the tender process will be able to commence and this process looks likely to get underway from March 2015 onwards.

The Agua-Negra tunnel will be an extremely important transport route between Argentina and Chile and will replace other mountain passes through the Andes that are at altitude and difficult to access during winter months, suffering regular closures due to heavy snowfall. From a technical perspective the height of the portals for the tunnel will pose some challenges for construction but the rock itself should be fairly competent, allowing conventional processes and methods.

Related Content

  • New Argentina highway construction work
    January 11, 2019
    Construction is underway for Argentina’s new Mendoza-San Juan Highway – Mauro Nogarin reports The rehabilitation and maintenance works of more than 3,300km of routes is now underway in Argentina. This followed on after the takeover of six new road corridors under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, which took place in August 2018. The rehabilitation and maintenance works are being carried out prior to the start of the main projects, which will include the construction of highways. Building the
  • Chile project tenders due shortly
    June 27, 2016
    A series of major projects in Chile will be put out to tender by March 2018. These will be worth some US$4.08 billion in all. Further transport projects are planned for Chile and 2021, the total value of these will be worth an impressive $8.28 billion. The country’s Chacao Bridge linking to Chiloe Island and Agua Negra Tunnel connecting with neighbouring Argentina are perhaps the two most notable and ambitious transport projects Chile will be working on. The tender process for the $800 million Principe de G
  • Speed and precision make for perfect tunnelling combination
    May 21, 2014
    Speed and precision have been the hallmarks of a number of major road tunnelling projects across the globe over the last 12 months, as the latest sector equipment from leading manufacturers has found itself in high demand. Guy Woodford reports Herrenknecht tunnel boring machines (TBM) have been busy tunnelling under major Chinese rivers, demonstrating phenomenal speed, top safety levels and extreme precision while playing a key role in the construction of road tunnels in the Yangtze River Delta. The Yang
  • Key link for Chile
    May 28, 2012
    Work will commence on a key new road tunnel connecting in Chile in 2001. The Chacabuco II tunnel will provide another road link between Santiago and the Andes mountain range along the Los Libertadores highway. This will improve Chile's connection with neighbouring Argentina as the highway runs to the border. The 2km tunnel will run parallel to the existing Chacabuco I tunnel, and will carry two lanes of traffic running towards Santiago.