OHL and Sacyr submit the best construction and concession proposal for the Américo Vespucio Oriente highway in Santiago de Chile

OHL Concessions and Sacyr Concessions have submitted the best proposal for the construction and concession of Santiago de Chile’s Américo Vespucio Oriente urban highway (AVO), which has a budget of €710 million (US$970 million).

The project comprises building and operating this 9.3 km urban highway, large spans of which will have three lanes in running in each direction. Some of the more prominent work among the primary projects on this highway, which will stretch across five Chilean communes (La Reina, Las Condes, Vitacura, Recoleta and Huechuraba), include the tunnel under the San Cristóbal hill and Mapocho river, improvements to the preexisting surface roadways in La Pirámide, and two underwater carriageways from the south side of the Centenario bridge to Príncipe de Gales.

This highway will help shorten travel time for commuters in the eastern part of Chile’s capital city while improving the level of service for a structured road, which currently bears heavy traffic congestion.

The OHL Group began working in Chile since the 1980s and has since held a steady presence in the country with numerous large projects in civil engineering and transportation infrastructure. Currently, OHL Concessions Chile conducts studies, draws up proposals for various publicly-privately partnered projects in the country and, through Terminal Cerros de Valparaíso (TCVAL), develops the operation and construction of Terminal 2 at the Port of Valparaíso. Likewise in December, OHL Concessions Chile submitted the best technical and economic proposal for the concession of the Puente Industrial road bridge in Bíobío (VIII Region).

Sacyr has been working in Chile since 1996 on developing and commissioning immense highway projects in the country such as Santiago-Valparaíso, Américo Vespucio Sur, Los Vilos-La Serena, Rio Bueno-Puerto Montt, Red Vial Litoral Central, Radial Nororiente and Vallenar-Caldera. Sacyr Concessions Chile currently has five Chilean highways that together span a length of 676 kilometers: one under operation that joins the cities Caldera and Vallenar (Valles del Desierto), and stretching 221 km; and the remaining four still under construction: Concepción-Cabrero (Valles del Bío Bío), spanning 103 km; Alternative Accesses to Iquique (Rutas del Desierto), 79 km; La Serena-Vallenar (Rutas del Algarrobo), 187 km; and La Serena-Ovalle (Ruta del Limarí), 86 km. Furthermore, the company is currently building the Antofagasta Regional Hospital.