In April, the board of Endesa Chile approved a USD273 million investment for the construction of the Los Cí³ndores hydroelectric plant in the Andes foothills in the Maule region VII, which will have nominal capacity of 150 MW and an estimated average annual generation of 529 GWh. The plant will use waters stored in Lake Maule which will be channelled through mixed adduction (pipes and tunnels) over some 16 kilometres. Corema, the Maule region environment commission, unanimously approved in mid April the environmental impact assessment (EIA). Endesa Chile, meanwhile, will launch tenders for the plant's works as soon as formal environmental permits are issued. Three contracts for civil works and one for equipment are planned. The project includes a main headrace tunnel, a secondary headrace runnel, on the right bank of the river Maule, and a surge tank. There are also associated works, not subterranean. The plant will be built near the town of San Clemente, 271 km south of Santiago, in the Maule region VII. Water to the plant will be conveyed through approximately 16 km of pipelines and tunnels from the Laguna del Maule, a lake-filled caldera in the Talca province that feeds the Maule river. Construction is due to last 50 months after starting in September 2008. Once the project is commissioned, which is scheduled for late 2012, it is to generate 529 GWh of electricity per year. Visit www.endesa.cl 24/08.

Sociedad Concesionaria Autopista Los Libertadores S.A. was awarded the concession for the construction and operation of the 117 km Santiago-Colina-Los Andes highway under a public tender in 1997, for a term of 28 years. The operator is owned by OHL of Spain. OHL will invest USD101 million in expanding and improving the highway. The Chacabuco tunnel will be doubled and the upgrading of a 19.5 km section. The existing single bore tunnel is 2,050 m in length and the new tunnel may be of the same length, shorter or longer. The 9 m-wide tunnel will carry two lanes. Trasa Ingenierí­a is carrying out a social evaluation study to assess the benefits of the project. This is due to be completed in early May. Then the detailed design will be undertaken. Finally, the construction is expected to be tendered in the fourth quarter of this year. Details regarding the construction method are not available yet. Visit www.ohlconcesiones.cl 14/08.

Hochtief Construction's Chilean subsidiary, as member of a joint venture with Tecsa in which it holds a 70% share, has signed an engineer, procurement and construction (EPC) contract of approximately EUR175 million for the 155 MW La Confluencia hydropower station, 150 km south of Santiago. The client is Tinguiririca Joint Venture, an electricity operating company made up of the Australian utility Pacific Hydro and SN Power, which is a Norwegian venture of utility Statkraft and the Norfund Power Invest fund. Hochtief will design and build a turnkey powerhouse for two turbines, two river diversions and tunnels with a total length of 19 kilometres in a difficult-to-access mountain region at a height of about 1,100 metres. The scheme is located in the Tinguiririca valley upstream of the La Higuera scheme, which the developers are also building with the same installed capacity and is due to be commissioned late next year. The developers have laid the first stone officially on 24th January. Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2010. Visit www.hochtief-construction.com, www.tecsa.cl and www.snpower.no 05/08.

Zueblin is building Quilleco's 3.2 km tunnel for Chilean electricity company Colbun. The USD70 million 70 MW run-of-river hydro project is on the Laja river in central-southern Chile's Region VIII. The project is downstream from Colbun's 174 MW Rucue hydro plant. The plant will generate about 464 GWh a year. The 6.6 m-wide 9 m-high horseshoe-shaped tunnel is drilled and blasted from two sides through conglomerates, using two three-boom jumbos, one Atlas Copco and one Tamrock. To date, 200 m has been driven from the exit portal and 50 m from the entrance portal. Support with grouting bolts, welded mesh and shotcrete. Construction will take 28 months and the plant is scheduled to start operations by May 2007. Visit www.atlascopco.com, www.tamrock.sandvik.com and www.zueblin.de 13/05.

The public works ministry has extended to 11th August, 2004 the deadline to submit technical and economic offers for the Americo Vespucio-El Salto-Kennedy expressway's 30-year concession. The economic offers will be opened on 11th September. The USD70 million project entails building a 4.1 km expressway serving Santiago's northern and northeastern suburbs. It will connect the Americo Vespucio beltway in the sector of El Salto in Huenchuraba municipality in the north of the capital with the municipalities of Providencia and Las Condes at El Cerro and Kennedy avenues, respectively. Works will include cutting two 1.1 km parallel tunnels through San Cristí³bal hill.The nine candidates who bought the tender documents are Impregilo; Dragados / Hochtief; OHL's Infraestructura 2000; Marubeni Chile; Bouygues TP; Sacyr Vallehermoso through its concession arm Itinere; Sociedad Ibérica de Construcciones Eléctricas (SICE); Gestadora de Patrimonio; Besalco; and Necso. Building, it is estimated, will begin in June 2005 for opening in 2007. Visit www.concesioneschile.cl and www.moptt.cl 29/04.The public works ministry has awarded consortium San Cristobal Express, including ACS Dragados and Hochtief, the El Salto-Kennedy urban expressway concession. The USD70 million, 4 km project entails building an expressway to connect the Americo Vespucio beltway in the sector of El Salto in the north of Santiago with the municipalities of Providencia and Las Condes at El Cerro and Kennedy avenues, respectively. Works will include a 1.9 km twin tunnel through San Cristobal hill. The concession will run for 32 years. Construction to start in first half of 2005. Visit www.moptt.cl, www.dragados.com and www.hochtief.de 39/04.Indra has been awarded a contract to implement its traffic management, toll and tunnel control systems in the Nororiente highway and in the San Cristobal tunnel in the capital, Santiago de Chile. The Nororiente highway will offer an access/exit for vehicles to and from the north of Chile to alleviate traffic congestion in Ruta 5 Norte and in the Americo Vespucio avenue. The San Cristobal tunnel will substantially improve connections between north and south of Santiago, linking Huechuraba, an industrial and business area in economical growth and Providencia, located in the city centre. Visit www.indra.es and www.tunelsancristobal.cl 07/08.

The national highway directorates of Argentina and Chile have kicked off the tender process for a feasibility study of a traffic tunnel between the two countries. The tunnel will span centre-north Chile's Region IV and Argentina's San Juan province. Six Argentine firms and six Chilean firms were invited to submit bids under a closed tender process. Offers are due next month and a winner will be selected by June. Names were not released. The tunnel would be built at the Aguas Negras border pass, 4,000 m-high in the Andes mountains, while the alternative would entail fully paving the existing road. Results should be ready by year-end. The tunnel's estimated price tag is US$30 million but the final cost will depend on a number of variables such as geotechnical details and whether the tunnel will be three, four or five km-long. If built, the tunnel will be financed on the two countries' US$400 million border crossings and integration corridors programme. The Inter-American Development Bank approved a US$200 million loan for the programme in December 2000, while the Japan Bank for International Cooperation is providing US$120 million and local counterpart funds the remainder. 18/03.According to a preliminary technical study just submitted, the 14 km tunnel between Argentina and Chile will cost over USD250 million. The idea is to finance the project via a concession. The tunnel would guarantee year-round passage between both countries. The current Aguas Negras border pass, 4,000 m-high in the Andes, is subject to closures during the winter. The tunnel is considered as a key link for pushing forward the bi-oceanic corridor between Chile's Region IV port Coquimbo and Brazilian port Porto Alegre. The project would also include an access tunnel which would be used for maintenance and act as an escape route. 23/04.China and Argentina signed on 29th June an agreement in principle for building a 13.9 km tunnel across the Andes on a visit of president Nestor Kirchner to Beijing. The tunnel, which will cross five Argentinian provinces, will be built some 800 m below the present crossing at Aguas Negras Pass in San Juan. The tunnel, which is part of the central bi-oceanic corridor between Porto Alegre in Brazil and Coquimbo in Chile, is designed to shorten considerably the distance between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and boost Argentinian soya and fruit exports to China, permitting and all-weather link by avoiding passage through the Cristo Redendor cross-border tunnel in Mendoza between Argentina and Chile, which is sometimes closed during winter thereby crippling hundreds of trucks on both sides of the Andes. The tunnel's cost estimate reaches USD250 million and it will be constructed by China National Overseas Engineering Corp. and the Fourth Engineering Bureau at an estimated time frame of 68 months once the final agreement is signed. Click ar/20 & cl/24. 29/04.

The governments of Argentina and Chile received 23 expressions of interest for the bi-tube 13.9 km-long Agua Negra trans-Andean road tunnel project. The companies are from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Italy, Korea and other countries. The tunnel will link Argentina's San Juan province with Chile's Coquimbo region (region IV). The bilateral body Ebitan will produce a list of pre-qualifiers over the coming weeks for a tender process set to begin next year. Click here for more info on the project and ar/20 and cl/24 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit

http://www.ebitan.org/ebitan/descargas/resultadoActoApertura.pdf. 45/13.

Notice of qualification system, deadline 08.02.2017, for the design and construction of the 13.9km international Agua Negra Pass tunnel. The bidding will take place at the beginning of 2018 and construction will begin between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, with an estimated duration of 9 years. Contact EBITAN, attn Enrique Alvarez Jaque, Santiago de Chile, tel 56-2-24493002, email enrique.alvarez@mop.gov.cl. Visit http://www.ebitan.org/descargas/pliegoPrecalificacion.pdf. 02/17.

EBITAN announced the 10 consortiums, composed of  29 companies from China, Italy, Spain, Argentina and Chile, pre-qualified for the design and construction of the 13.9km international Agua Negra Pass tunnel: Consortium CRS, including Consortium China Railway Tunnel Group Co Ltd, Benito Roggio e hijos SA, Ingenieria y Construccion Sigdo Koppers SA; Consortium Astaldi SPA, FCC Construccion SA and Rivas SA; Consortium China Railway Construccion CO and Panedile SA; Consortium Power China LTDA and Sacde SA; Consortium CCCC and JCR SA; Consorzio Dragados SA, Technit SA and Besalco SA; Salini Impregilo SpA; Consortium OHL SA, Condotte SpA and Rovella SA; Consortium Strabag, JCC SA and Obras Subterraneas SA Agencia Chile; Consortium SCCM Tunel Agua Negra, including Sacyr Construccion SA, SK Engineerind & Construction Co LTD, CMC and ICM SA.  Contact EBITAN, attn Enrique Alvarez Jaque, Santiago de Chile, tel 56-2-24493002, email enrique.alvarez@mop.gov.cl. Visit http://www.regionbinacional.com/home/10-consorcios-interesados-en-tunel-agua-negra/ and http://www.ebitan.org. 32/17.

  The eleven participants to the prequalification to build the third stage of Camino La Pí³lvora between Quebrada Las Animas and the harbour are Ferrovial-Agromí¡n; Mendes Junior & Asociados; Tricam / Ingenierí­­a Civil Vicente / Puga Mujica y Asociados; Consortium Icafal / Vial y Vives / Echeverrí­­a Izquierdo Ingenierí­­a y Construccií³n / Echeverrí­­­a Izquierdo Montajes Industriales; Brotec; Consortium Constructora Internacional / Constructora Raíºl Gardilcic / Claro, Vicuí±a, Valenzuela; Consortium Tecsa / Fe Grande / Con-Pax / Valko; Belfi; Sacyr; Besalco; and OHL / Abengoa. The third stage includes tunnel T1 (2.2 km). Visit www.moptt.cl 06/03. Nine groups have submitted offers for a Ps44 billion (around US$60.4 million) contract to build the third and last stretch of the Camino La Polvora highway, an alternative south access route to port city Valparaiso. A total of 11 groups prequalified for the tender, which is split into three contractual options: A) Quebrada las Tortugas T3 tunnel (435 m); B) T1 tunnel (2.2 km), connections and coastal route; and C) the project's entire works. The nine companies and their respective bids (in A, B and C option order and in pesos) are Brotec (Ps13.8 billion, Ps31.1 billion and Ps43.3 billion pesos); Ferrovial-Agromí¡n (Ps11.4 billion, Ps25.7 billion and Ps35.7 billion); Mendes Junior y Asociados (Ps16 billion, Ps38.4 billion and Ps52.8 billion); Icafal / Vial y Vives / Echeverrí­­­­a Izquierdo (Ps17.8 billion, Ps38.6 billion and Ps49.4 billion); Tecsa / Fe Grande / Con Pax / Valko y Cí­­a (Ps12.7 billion, Ps31.5 billion and Ps41.9 billion); Sacyr (Ps12.4 billion, Ps28.6 billion and Ps40.1 billion); Besalco (Ps13.2 billion, Ps32.5 billion and Ps44.4 billion); OHL / Abengoa (Ps14.3 billion, Ps29.6 billion and Ps40.8 billion); and Constructora Internacional / Raíºl Gardilcic Internacional / Claro, Vicuí±a, Valenzuela (Ps17.2 billion, Ps37.4 billion and Ps50 billion). Works could possibly beginning end-May. Visit www.moptt.cl 18/03.Ferrovial has been awarded the construction contract for stage III, section Quebrada Las Animas-Valparaí­­­so harbour, the last section of La Pí³lvora highway. The contract is worth Ps35.6 billion (US$50.9 million) and is for a fast roadway link between Santiago and Valparaí­­so, 120 km from the capital. The project is fundamental to provide a direct heavy traffic connection to the harbour bypassing the city centre. The new roadway is scheduled to open in 2007. Visit www.ferrovial.es 21/03.

Tecnicagua expects bidding to start in September or October 2003 for a 25-year concession to rehabilitate and operate the 232 km Transandina freight railroad linking Mendoza in Argentina with Los Andes in central Chile. The project is estimated to require about US$220 million. Tecnicagua is currently conducting technical studies for the project. Seven kilometres of artificial tunnels will be built in avalanche prone zones. 37/02.

Bidding underway for the US$300 million Melipilla-Santiago-Batuco railroad concession, deadline 30th July, 2002. The winning consortium will be announced in August and will then have to develop detailed engineering studies. Bidders are Agencias Universales, OHL, Alstom Chile, Dragados, Jarvis Facilities and FCC. Construction work to begin second half of 2003. Obligatory minimum stretch goes from Alameda station in Santiago to Talagante, southwest of the capital. Optional extensions to Melipilla, 70 km from Santiago, and to Batuco, north of the city. If the winner develops the Santiago-Batuco stretch, a 4 km tunnel will be required under the San Cristobal hill from the Quinta Normal station to Batuco. 23/02.The tender for the railway concession for the suburban train named Melitren to link Santiago with Padre Hurtado, Talagante and Melipilla has been declared void. None of the six consortia submitted any bid. The six interested bidders are: Ferrocarriles Gran Santiago (Agunsa, FCC, Alstom, RATP and Comsa); OHL; Ferrocarril Metropolitano (Dragados and ACS); Jarvis International Ltd; Ferroviaria Metropolitana (Ferrostal, Tecna and Sencorp); and Sacyr. The project has an estimated value of US$300 million for building a 63.74 km line from Melipilla station to the future intermodal station in Quinta Normal where a 4 km tunnel was planned. Visit www.moptt.cl 52/02.

  1.6 km north extension to Recoleta between Cal y Canto and Santos Dumont, including crossing under river Mapocho, under construction by Sacyr and Consorcio DPS. 2.2 km south extension to Américo Vespucio between Lo Ovalle and La Cisterna being built by Inela. Single tunnel from station to station, 65 sq m with 45-50 cm-thick lining. Station tunnel is 150 sq m with 60-65 cm-thick lining. Tunnelling method is NATM with wiremesh, shotcrete and bolts every 50 cm through gravel deposits. Average costs amount to US$7,280 per metre for station-to-station tunnels and US$24,810 per metre for the stations. Completion end-2004. Visit www.metro-chile.cl or www.metrosantiago.cl 02/02.