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In a joint project between Argentina and Chile, a 14-kilometer tunnel will be built through the Andes Mountains under the Agua Negra pass.
The bidding process to begin work on one of South America’s largest public works projects is due to close at the end of this month.
Juan Igualada, the president of passenger transport company PAP transport in the Argentinian province of San Juan, said that an altitude of nearly 5,000 meters makes crossing the Agua Negra pass slow.
Winter temperatures also mean the pass closes for several months, creating logistical problems for companies like his.
“It is hard to plan an economy with a route that is closed so much,” Igualada said. He added that the new tunnel should reduce travel time from San Juan to Chile by nearly half, benefiting the business and tourism sectors.
Discussions on the bi-national project have been underway since 2003 and it could be another decade until construction is completed. But it is not only Argentina and Chile that will benefit from the tunnel at Agua Negra.
Provincial governor Segio Unac says that with US$1.5 billion in funding from the Inter-American Development Bank, this project is one of the largest public works in South America.
“We are building a future for the center of our country and the neighboring countries too,” Unac said. “Uruguay, the south of Brazil and Paraguay can also use this bi-oceanic corridor and that way access the growing Asian market with their products.”
With the bidding process due to wrap up soon, San Juan infrastructure minister, Julio Ortiz Andino, said Chinese companies are likely to have a key role in construction.
“China is the country that has the most experience in tunnels of any type, but in particular tunnels at altitude. They have the Himalayas, we have the Andes,” Andino said.
The tunnel may still be nearly 10 years away from completion, but the expectation is that it will benefit this region for the long- term.
(CGTN)
