Skip to main content

Colombian tunnel project progress

A key Colombian tunnel project is seeing progress.
By MJ Woof August 31, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Progress is being seen in Colombia for the Tunel de Occidente project - image © courtesy of Wollertz, Dreamstime.com

An important road tunnel project in Colombia is seeing progress being achieved. Driving work for the second tube of the Tunel de Occidente project has been completed, some two months ahead of schedule.

Around 497,400m3 of material has been removed from the tunnel drives since excavation commenced in September 2018. The Tunel de Occidente features twin parallel tubes, each with a length of 4.6km. The tunnel forms part of the Autopista al Mar 1 road project, linking Medellin with Santa Fe.

The tunnel is being built by the concessionaire Desarrollo Vial al Mar (Devimar).

Related Content

  • Tunnel breakthrough for new Auckland link in New Zealand
    October 8, 2014
    Auckland’s Western Ring Route project update - Mary Bell writes. A number of integrated projects in Auckland, New Zealand, will improve the lot of road users and cyclists, and significantly alter the topography of the city’s motorway. On September 29th the tunnel boring machine digging the first of twin road tunnels beneath the city broke into daylight after 10 months underground. The new 2.4km-long Waterview tunnels will connect the city’s Northwestern and Southwestern motorways, each carrying three lane
  • Underground expansion pushes tunnelling market
    June 13, 2012
    Infrastructure investment means that the road tunnel construction sector is healthy due to demand for new links – Mike Woof reports With many emergent nations investing heavily in infrastructure, the tunnelling sector is seeing extensive business at present. Tunnels provide key links in mountainous areas or in congested cities where building roads on the surface may not be practical. In Asia and Latin America, many key road connections are now being built underground to pass challenging terrain or provide
  • Tunnel construction for Gdansk, Poland
    March 10, 2014
    Work is now underway on the second section of a new tunnel project in the Polish city of Gdansk. The tunnel runs underneath the Martwa Wisla River. The project is of note as it is the first time a TBM has been used to drive a tunnel in Poland. The tunnel will feature twin tubes, each measuring 1.07km long. The tunnel forms part of the Trasa Slowackiego project and is worth some €210 million.
  • Bolivia dual carriageway project stalled
    September 12, 2016
    Work remains at a halt on the 70km dual carriageway upgrade connecting Yapacani with Montero in Bolivia’s Santa Cruz department. A disagreement between the Mexican construction company that was building the link, Tradeco, and Bolivia’s road administration department, ABC, resulted in the contract being cancelled. The route, Highway 4, runs from Yapacani through Santa Fe, San Carlo and Portachuelo to Montero and the project was intended to improve the road and boost its capacity by increasing the number of l