Skip to main content

Colombia’s La Linea Tunnel will be completed

Colombia's national road institute (Invias) has said that the La Linea tunnel project will open to traffic in 2017. The project has been delayed on several occasions and due to a variety of reasons, presenting a luckless and lengthy tale of woe for Colombia’s transport ministry. Early in its lifetime the project was held back by unexpected geological issues arising from more challenging ground conditions than had been initially realised. The project was also delayed by insurance problems for some of the fir
September 16, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Colombia's national road institute (2812 Invias) has said that the La Linea tunnel project will open to traffic in 2017. The project has been delayed on several occasions and due to a variety of reasons, presenting a luckless and lengthy tale of woe for Colombia’s transport ministry. Early in its lifetime the project was held back by unexpected geological issues arising from more challenging ground conditions than had been initially realised. The project was also delayed by insurance problems for some of the firms involved. Contractors working on the project have also suffered delays and other problems. The work being carried out by Union Temporal Segundo Centenario (UTSC) is expected to be completed in November 2016, however an electromechanics team will be required to carry out final completion work that could take up to eight months. The La Linea tunnel project is currently 79% complete and has a progression rate of 1%/month. Invias has stated that there are now no financial difficulties in carrying out and completing La Linea tunnel project. This has been one of the problems in earlier phases of the project. However there are insufficient funds to begin the necessary interchange construction, which is valued at US$32.95 million. Invias will request financial support from the National Planning Department (DNP) to launch the tenders for future construction contracts.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Colombia’s delayed La Linea Tunnel and tertiary road development programme seeing progress
    July 6, 2017
    Progress is now being seen in Colombia with regard to key tunnel and road projects. A consortium comprising Conconcreto and CSS Constructores is to complete the 12% of work still needed to finish the La Linea Tunnel project.
  • Colombia’s tunnel of woe faces further setback
    May 19, 2017
    The troubled tunnel construction project in Colombia to build the La Linea link has faced yet a further setback in its long tale of woe. The tender for the completion of the final 12% of the tunnel project has not managed to attract any interest from contractors. The budget for this work is an estimated US$77 million. A new tender process is being launched, with a submission deadline of 6th June 2017 and planned winner announcement on 4th July 2017. The contractor that had been building the tunnel failed to
  • Further delays possible for Colombia tunnel
    July 21, 2016
    Further delays to completion look a possibility for Colombia’s La Linea Tunnel project. A strike by truck drivers meant that supplies of construction materials were halted, adding to previous delays. The country’s National Road Institute (Invias) has stated that work on the tunnel does not look likely to be finished until the first quarter of 2017. The project will only be completed before that date if faster progress can be achieved with the electro-mechanical works currently in hand. Invias has previously
  • Colombia’s troubled tunnel project completion due
    April 26, 2017
    The completion of work on Colombia’s troubled tunnel project is now finally in sight. A new contractor will be selected by Colombia's National Road Institute (Invias) to complete the last section of work required on the La Linea Tunnel. The winner of the tender process will be announced on 13th June 2017. An additional US$50 million is being budgeted by the Colombian authorities to complete the work. It is expected that in all, finishing the project will cost $86.6 million. Work still to be carried out incl