Road tunnels are de rigueur in Chile, with the start, or imminent start, of several projects in the South American country.
Costanera Norte, a consortium comprising Italy’s Impregilo and Chilean companies Tecsa and Fe Grande, started work on the 2.4km second phase of a road tunnel in Santiago, the Chilean capital.
The scheme, between the Purisima bridge and Torres de Tajamar, is part of a US$450M 30km expressway that is being built by Costanera Norte under a concession from Chile’s public works, transport and communications ministry. The highway will link the north-eastern and western sections of Santiago and includes construction of a third 4.1km long tunnel.
Meanwhile, construction of a 2.2km US$30M road tunnel that forms part of the southern expressway in Valparaiso, Chile’s main port city, will start in 2003. The tunnel will connect to the Quebrada Las Tortugas road.
The public works, transport and communications ministry is also working on proposals to build a shorter 300m long tunnel to connect with the longer tunnel. The aim is to provide southern and northern bypasses, so heavy vehicles will no longer have to transit Valparaiso’s old town to get to the port area.
