New tunnel link proposed for Colombia

Even as work continues on La Linea tunnel in Colombia, the country’s government has received a proposal for an additional tunnel link. A consortium made up of Colombian companies and Italian firms has suggested building a new tunnel to link Quindio and Tolima. Odinsa, Mincivil, Impregilo and Salini are involved in the consortium and have suggested a PPP as being a possible model under which to construct the link, which could cost in the order of US$531 million and would be 8.5km long. The economic case for
July 23, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Even as work continues on La Linea tunnel in Colombia, the country’s government has received a proposal for an additional tunnel link. A consortium made up of Colombian companies and Italian firms has suggested building a new tunnel to link Quindio and Tolima. 3214 Odinsa, Mincivil, 3149 Impregilo and Salini are involved in the consortium and have suggested a PPP as being a possible model under which to construct the link, which could cost in the order of US$531 million and would be 8.5km long. The economic case for this new route has yet to be made clear as the tunnel would lie comparatively close to the La Linea tunnel.

Progress with the current La Linea tunnel project in Colombia has been slow due to a series of delays. This link will connect Calarca and Cajamarca in the central Corderilla of the Colombian Andes and at around 8.6km, will be the longest road tunnel in Latin America when complete. When open to traffic La Linea tunnel will reduce travel times along Route 40 between Bogota and Cali and also the port of Buenaventura. This difficult project has met with numerous challenges, from technical, financial and legal standpoints. Altitude has not made the project any easier either and one tunnel portal is at 2,400m above sea level while the other is at 2,500m. However when it is complete the benefit to the Colombian economy will be significant as it will improve transport and cut accidents by replacing a treacherous existing route. From an engineering standpoint, the opening of La Linea tunnel will be a significant achievement for Colombia’s construction industry.
Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Italian highway investments
    May 3, 2012
    The Italian island of Sicily is to benefit from major investment in its road network, in a move designed to help boost its economy.
    Read More
  • Prague wins legal battle over Blanka Tunnel costs
    September 6, 2016
    The Czech capital Prague will not have to pay €63 million to construction firm CKD Praha DIZ for cost overruns on the Blanka Tunnel complex. CKD Praha DIZ sought the amount over an alleged rise in costs when completion of the tunnel was delayed, according to a report by Radio Praha.
    Read More
  • Favourable feasibility study for Indonesian bridge?
    July 25, 2014
    The work on the feasibility study for the proposed Java bridge connection in Indonesia is proving favourable so far. However this project is likely to be highly expensive and its future depends on decisions yet to be made by the country’s government. So far some 19 companies have been involved in the work on the feasibility study. If the project gets the go ahead, it could conceivably cost some US$13.05 billion to construct. Around 60% of the route would cross land but the most costly section would be the 4
    Read More
  • Act FAST when it comes to bridge maintenance, argues Cliff Weston
    February 27, 2017
    Deck waterproofing remains critical to a bridge’s structural integrity for its design life, explains Cliff Weston, director of Stirling Lloyd To properly maintain deck waterproofing there must be a willingness to look at solutions based on whole-life costing rather than just short-term initial costs. There are lessons to be learned from examples of prematurely failed infrastructure due to a focus on initial short-term costs.
    Read More

Highlighted Content