Skip to main content

Sao Paulo’s Mario Covas ring road faces last section glitch

A consortium of Brazil's Mendes Junior and Spain's Isolux Corsán could lose its US$208 million contract to build part of the northern section of the Mario Covas beltway around the Brazilian city of São Paulo. The consortium, led by Mendes Junior, is falling behind schedule because of cash flow problems, according to São Paulo state highway company Dersa. The deal was signed in January 2013, local paper Folha de São Paulo reported.
April 10, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
RSSA consortium of Brazil's Mendes Junior and Spain's 1392 Isolux Corsán could lose its US$208 million contract to build part of the northern section of the Mario Covas beltway around the Brazilian city of São Paulo.

The consortium, led by Mendes Junior, is falling behind schedule because of cash flow problems, according to São Paulo state highway company 6344 Dersa. The deal was signed in January 2013, local paper Folha de São Paulo reported.

If matters do not improve this month, "it is very likely that we will terminate our agreement based on a breach of contract," Dersa president Laurence Casagrande was quoted as saying.

The 180km Rodoanel Mário Covas beltway is partially with a radius of around 23km from the geographical centre of Sao Paulo. It was named after Mário Covas, mayor of the city between 1983–1985 and a state governor from 1994-2001 until his death from cancer. It is a controlled access highway with a speed limit of 100kph.

The northern segment is the last of the bletway’s four sections to be built. Construction of Dersa’s stretch of the northern section was originally scheduled to be completed last year but was rescheduled to January 2016. However, at the beginning of this year, Dersa pushed back the completion date to the first half of 2017.

If terminated, Dersa could transfer the work to local construction company Odebrecht, which submitted the next best offer for the contract. If not, a new tender for the remaining work could be launched, according to the news report.

Mendes Junior is one of many engineering companies under investigated by the federal government's so called car wash corruption probe.

The northern section connects the eastern and western sections of the Rodoanel Mario Covas beltway, passing through the cities of Aruja, Guarulhos and Sao Paulo. The project involves 44km of road, including 111 structures and seven tunnels.

The northern section tender was split into six lots, five of which have tunnels: the 6.4km lot 1 includes a 1.1km tunnel; the 4.9km lot 2 includes two tunnels of 350m and 850m length; the 3.6km lot 3 has two tunnels, 1.6km-lomg and 1km-long; the 9km lot 4 has a 290m-long tunnel. The 7.9km lot 5 has a 1.1km-long tunnel. The 12km lot 6, from Guarulhos and Aruja municipalities, does not include tunnels.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Green light for iRAP's BrazilRAP São Paulo
    June 3, 2024
    BrazilRAP São Paulo will use iRAP’s evidence-based Star Rating methodology to provide an objective rating of the level of safety built in to a road.
  • Brazilian bridge and highway project tenders
    April 7, 2014
    A series of major project tenders are opening in Brazil. The Brazilian Government has announced five new road tenders to be launched in 2014. The highway sections run for a total distance of some 2,625km. This programme of works will lengthen the country’s highway network by some 2,282km, with the work costing an impressive US$7.39 billion in all.
  • Tenders being opened in Brazil for highways and tunnel projects
    February 6, 2014
    A series of major project tenders are opening in Brazil. The Brazilian Government has announced five new road tenders to be launched in 2014. The highway sections run for a total distance of some 2,625km. This programme of works will lengthen the country’s highway network by some 2,282km, with the work costing an impressive US$7.39 billion in all. The roads include the BR-163, BR-364 and BR-153 in the Central West region, and the BR-476 stretch in the South, in addition to the Rio-Niteroi Bridge in Rio de J
  • Brazil launches new transport infrastructure investment plan
    August 30, 2012
    The Brazilian government has announced a new transport infrastructure investment plan involving the concession of motorway operations and modernisation of the railway sector. The private public partnerships are predicted to lead to an investment of US$65.68 billion (BRL 133bn) in the next 25 years, including US$ 39.63 billion (BRL 80bn) to be spent in the first five years of the contract.