Chile’s Chacao Bridge under construction

Construction work on Chile’s Chacao Bridge project is now underway. The 2.75km suspension bridge will connect the Chilean mainland with Chiloe Island. The bridge structure has been designed to flex so that It can cope with severe earthquakes, which present a risk in the area. The project is costing US$700 million to carry out with South Korean company Hyundai heading the construction. Building the link should take around five years with its completion set for 2023, although the work could be finished earlie
March 6, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Construction work on Chile’s Chacao Bridge project is now underway. The 2.75km suspension bridge will connect the Chilean mainland with Chiloe Island. The bridge structure has been designed to flex so that It can cope with severe earthquakes, which present a risk in the area. The project is costing US$700 million to carry out with South Korean company 236 Hyundai heading the construction. Building the link should take around five years with its completion set for 2023, although the work could be finished earlier if productivity targets are achieved.


The project to build a bridge to link Chiloe Island with mainland Chile has been planned for some time. However an earlier design was rejected as being too costly by the then 968 Chilean Government and any progress was then halted. This present design represents a substantial change from the original plan and the project has also benefited from a different funding package as well as a change in the Chilean Government.

Once the bridge opens to traffic it will replace a ferry service that connects with Chiloe Island at present. Journey times will be reduced from 30-45 minutes at present using the ferry service to just 2-3 minutes across the tolled bridge. The bridge project is intended to boost the economy of Chiloe Island and will help develop tourism in the area.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • State-of-the art road tunnels in construction and use of ITS
    April 25, 2013
    A wealth of major road tunnel construction projects and significant cant ITS installations within existing key road tunnels have been recently completed or will soon be underway. Guy Woodford examines some of them. A state-of-the art Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) - the 10th largest ever to be built worldwide will be put to work later this year on New Zealand Transport Agency’s landmark Waterview Connection project in Auckland. The giant Herrenknecht-manufactured machine will be used to construct the twin 2.5
    Read More
  • Auckland’s future strategic transport requirements
    July 5, 2012
    The Auckland Harbour Bridge is at the stage that it cannot cope with much more traffic, yet the population of the Auckland region continues to grow at a steady rate. Coupled with that, the bridge is a key link in the most important transport corridor in the country, State Highway One. Without it, the country would struggle to function. Not only home to New Zealand's largest city and one third of its population, Auckland's port is one of the country's largest. Some 140m north of the city is Marsden Point, th
    Read More
  • Spanish firms interested in US$740mn Chile bridge project
    June 5, 2013
    Spanish companies Sacyr, ACS and OHL will take part in three of the consortia that will bid in the US$740 million contract to build the longest suspension bridge in Chile. Works for the 2.5km Chacao Bridge, connecting the island of Chiloe and Chile's coast line, are expected to be awarded during the first quarter of 2014, with construction due to begin in 2015.
    Read More
  • Slovakia’s D1 highway project underway
    August 11, 2022
    Work on Slovakia’s D1 highway project is underway.
    Read More

Highlighted Content