Tenders invited, deadline mid-August, 2001, for $216 million, 8.6 km-long, DBO road tunnel together with parallel emergency tunnel and 3.8 km of access roads. Contract duration 60 months, operating concession 7 years. Visit www.invias.co 17/01. Andean Development Fund will provide $100 million towards cost of scheme for 8.6 km-long tunnel currently open to BOT bid. Visit www.caf.com and www.invias.co 29/01. Bidders are ConConcreto, ICA, Skanska, Ferrovial and Bouygues. To be the world's highest tunnel culminating at 2,500 m elevation between Bogota and Buenaventura, with 8 m-wide carriageway and clearance of 4.7 m. Parallel emergency tunnel of 4.5 m-diameter connected to the main tunnel with 17 cross passages of 480 m each. Hardrock TBM to be used. Investment revised at US$222 million. Contract to be awarded on 28th December, 2001. Visit www.invias.gov.co 44/01. No bid has been received for the construction of the 8.6 km La Lí­­nea tunnel. Project too risky for the five interested contractors according to the National Road Administration. Ministry of Transport to retender the project before year-end. Visit www.invias.gov.co 50/01. The design and construction of the La Lí­­nea tunnel is being retendered from 11th January to 11th February, 2002 after the first tendering process fell through on 28th November, 2001 as no bid was submitted by any of the five prequalified contractors. Throughout the failed process, the shortlisted firms requested to use other techniques than those stipulated within the original project for the design and construction of the ventilation equipment, the electromechanical systems, and the rescue tunnel. They also failed to obtain the required insurance policies. Invias, the National Highways Institute, has changed the project to meet these requirements. This 8.6 km mountain tunnel is estimated at US$233 million. Visit www.invias.gov.co 03/02. The tender for the 8.6 km La Lí­­nea tunnel was declared void for the second time as no bid was submitted by Coltíºneles, Ferrovial and Bouygues, the three companies who bought the tendering documents. None of them found international insurance companies ready to back the project as it is now. Inví­­as, the national roads administration, has modified the project and is about to negotiate directly with the three companies. Visit www.invias.gov.co 11/02. Plans to award the design and construction of the 8.6 km La Lí­­nea tunnel directly to one of the three companies who bought the bidding documents have been shelved and a third tender is to take place as of 12th April, 2002. Deadline 14th May, 2002. The companies who already bought the tender rules - Conconcreto, Ferrovial, and Bouygues - will not have to acquire them again. Policies to be taken out as guarantees, compliance and social security commitments will stand up at 13.5%, 10% and 5% respectively of the contract of over US$230 million. A fourth must be acquired for another 10% of the project. Contract award programmed for 10th July, 2002. Visit www.invias.gov.co 13/02. Third call for tenders to build the 8.6 km La Lí­­nea tunnel, deadline 20th May, 2002. Winner will be announced on 12th July. The project failed to attract bids on two occasions due to excessive guarantees and the unfavourable maintenance part of the contract. Visit www.invias.gov.co 17/02.Government to invite tenders for the fourth time at the end of the first half of 2003 for construction of the La Lí­­nea tunnel, first section. Tender value $55 million. Full project to cost $233 million. The 8.6 km tunnel will cut journey time and transport cost from Buenaventura, the main Colombian port on the Pacific coast, and the centre of the country. Visit www.invias.gov.co 48/02.Call for tenders, deadline 10th December, 2003 for construction of the La Linea tunnel, phase I, as part of the Bogota-Buenaventura road link, section Ibagué-Armenia. The project consists in building a 8.6 km-long 4.5 m-diameter rescue tunnel aimed at investigating the geotechnical and geological conditions of the massif for detailed design of the main tunnel. The contractor will build the access roads to the portals, the tunnel using the drill/blast method and both portals. The lowest portal, named Galicia, is located approximately 16 km from the town of Armenia, at an altitude of 2,300 m whereas the highest portal, named Bermellí³n, is located 37.8 km from the town of Ibagué, at an altitude of 2,505 m. Contact Instituto Nacional de Ví­­as, Direccií³n general, Gerencia tíºnel de la Lí­­nea, Transversal 45 No. 26-60, CAN, Auditorio Primer Piso, Bogotí¡ or visit http://npasaje.invias.gov.co/sinac/modulopublicacionportal/publicacionportal.asp, then click on Licitaciones and Pre-pliegos de condiciones, or www.invias.gov.co, then click on Contratacií³n, Licitaciones, and Pre-pliegos de condiciones. International contractors looking for a local contact person for technical and logistic matters with the government and environment authorities may get in touch with John Jairo Cabrera Ramos, Mining engineer and business development manager, e-mail minexplot@hotmail.com 44/03.The national planning department (DNP) has given the go-ahead for the construction of the La Linea road tunnel by providing Ps30 billion (USD11 million) in funding. The pilot tunnel construction will cost Ps60 billion, but with Ps30 billion committed from DNP, Invias, the national highway institute, is now able to start a bidding process. The pilot tunnel will define the geological risk and determine whether two one-way tunnels will be built or if it will be expanded into a unique bi-directional tunnel. The 8.6 km La Linea tunnel is designed to link Calarca and Cajamarca municipalities, west of Bogota. It will cost USD220 million. Visit www.dnp.gov.co and www.invias.gov.co 06/04.Two bids have been submitted for the La Linea pilot tunnel project. Bids were received from a consortium of Conconcreto and CSS Construcciones, and from consortium Tunelesa-Condor, comprising Tunelesa and Construcciones El Condor.Seven companies submitted offers for work control. They are: Ingetec; consortium Interventoria Tunel Piloto de la Linea; consortium Ingeneria Andina; consortium DIS-EDL Ltda; Interlinea JV; consortium Tunel de la Linea; and consortium Proyecto Tunel Fase I. Bids were originally due on 30th April but the deadline was extended to allow more time for interested firms to put their bids together. The 8.6 km tunnel will link the Calarca and Cajamarca municipalities, west of Bogota. Visit www.invias.gov.co 22/04.The Conlinea consortium set up by Conconcreto and Carlos Solarte has won the contract to bore the La Linea pilot tunnel for 74.9 billion pesos (USD27.6 million). The 8.5 km-long pilot tunnel will have a diameter of 4.5 m and will run between the departments of Tolima and Quindio. The work will enable the assessment of the geological risks of building a tunnel that would reduce transit times through the mountains to the port of Buenaventura to 40 minutes. The worksite will be located at an altitude of 2,600 m above sea level. The pilot tunnel will take between 32 and 39 months to complete. Work is due to begin in four months. Visit www.invias.gov.co and www.conconcreto.com 25/04.The Interlinea JV has been chosen for the work inspection and construction supervision of the 8.5 km 4.5 m diameter La Linea pilot tunnel. Visit www.invias.gov.co 31-32/04.INVíAS, the Colombian road authority, published the pre-bidding rules for the studies, design, social and environmental management, land expropriation, construction, operation and maintenance of the 8.8 km La Linea tunnel parallel to the pilot tunnel, in Cajamarca-Calarcí¡ direction, and 24 kilometres of new access roads. The tunnel will accommodate two 3.65 m-wide traffic lanes, a 1 m berm and 0.75 cm shoulders. The minimum carriageway width is 9.30 metres. There will also be emergency parking lay-bys at intervals of 750 metres to one kilometre, firefighting niches every 125 metres at the maximum and rescue niches every 250 metres at the maximum. The contract also includes the final studies and designs to enlarge the pilot tunnel in Calací¡-Cajamarca direction and convert it into rescue tunnel in case of emergency in the main tunnel. Click here. Visit www.invias.gov.co, section Contratacií³n or contact INVíAS, tel. +57 13831000, ext. 1185, fax +57 13831000, ext. 1391 or e-mail gerenciadegrandesproyectos@invias.gov.co 38/07.The national government signed on 21st September, 2007 a resolution which officially opens the bidding process for the construction of the central Andean crossing including the 8.8 km Second Centenary (or La Linea) tunnel and the Calarcí¡-Cajamarca road dualling. The tender value is estimated at COP620 billion (USD375 million). Submission deadline is December. Bid assessment and contract award are scheduled in January 2008. Work is planned to commence in April 2008. Excavation of the tunnel will end in May 2010 for opening in January 2012 while the second carriageway between Calarcí¡ and Cajamarca will open in May 2010. These are estimated dates published on the website of the Invias, the national road and highway institute. Click here and here. Visit www.invias.gov.co 40/07.International call for tenders, deadline 1st April, 2008 for construction of the 8.8 km La Linea tunnel. The bidding process has been declared deserted for the third time on 6th February. Due to its little economic attractiveness, none of the five consortia initially interested in the project, who purchased the bidding rules, has presented an offer to build the tunnel, first estimated at COP611.5 billion. The national highway institute Invias has decided to open a fourth tendering phase but this time, candidates will not have to buy the bidding rules, in accordance with the recently revised procurement and contracting Law 80, which sets guidelines for the selection of contractors during public tenders. All foreign consortia complying with the technical, financial and legal criteria will be allowed to bid. The new rules will also allow foreign contractors to have unlimited share in a consortium, which before could not exceed 45%. In addition, foreign construction firms bidding alone or 100% foreign consortia will also be admitted. These new rules are intended to catch up the delay caused by the three failed attempts to award the project. A contractor is expected to be appointed in end May or early June. Construction will begin two months later. Click co/15.The main change is that the project is now divided into several contracts: one for the dual carriageway between Calarcí¡ and Cajamarca, another contract for the main tunnel and finally a third deal for the E&M equipment and ventilation systems of the tunnel. The bidders will also be allowed to submit an alternative to make the pilot tunnel, currently under construction, fit for vehicular traffic. Contact Inví­as, Grupo de licitaciones y concursos, Edificio Inví­as, Transversal 45 No. 26-60, CAN, Primer piso, Bogotí¡ D.C. Tel. +57 13831000. E-mail pliego@invias.gov.co and grandesproyectos@invias.gov.co. Visit www.invias.gov.co/invias/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=599A compulsory visit for bidders is organised for them to be allowed to participate in the tendering process. The attendant must be civil or road engineer and has to show written permission from the contractor he represents. Interested companies looking for a local business partner for assistance in the submission of bids and consulting on other aspects of the project may contact Colombia-based José Guillermo Peí±aloza Cortés, Ingeniero civil, e-mail pecorjg@yahoo.com.ar or pecorjg@hotmail.comAs of 10th February, tunnelling of the La Linea pilot bore had reached 7,005.70 metres, which means there is still 1,548 metres to go to join the two sides. This is expected at the end of May. From the Bermellon mouth in Tolima district, crews had dug 4,193.60 metres while from the Las Americas mouth in Quindí­o district, a 2.812,10 m tunnel progress had been achieved. The tunnel advances 15 metres on average each day. 08/08.With a budget of COP703 billion, the Ministry of transport and the National highway institute (Invias) reinstated the tender process of the La Linea tunnel. Interested candidates have until 16th July, 2008 to submit their economic, legal and technical bids. The contract will be awarded in September. From 12th May and during three days, interested companies have to register online on Invias website, a prerequisite to continue in the process. Then, a 60-day period will open that can be extended a further 30 days at the request of proponents, until the bids are submitted. Visit www.invias.gov.co/invias/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=599 to get registered. This time, the national government granted COP92 billion more to the budget and plans that the project will be built within 70 months. The new tendering process eliminates rigidities that previously hampered a greater participation from foreign companies. It includes a different, more flexible scheme to avoid that the tender process be declared void as it already happened three times, because proponents argued that the amount of the works at the time, budgeted at COP611 billion, was not sufficient in view of the magnitude of the project. In this new intent to award the contract, the process will be modular.The first module entails the tunnelling, paving and cladding of the tunnel and the construction of the first dual carriageway from Cajamarca to the tunnel mouth in Tolima. The second module is for the studies, design and construction of the second dual carriageway between Calarcí¡ and the Quindí­o portal. Tenders for E&M equipment will only be invited in 2011, for example the ventilation system, an aspect that had significant economic weight in the initial tender and was one of the main factors of risk.The proponents will have to bid for the two modules but, depending on the economic value of each one of them, the government will decide if it awards the two modules to the same contractor or in separate contracts. Additionally, the successful bidder(s) will be allowed to import machinery free of tax. For further information, contact Oficina de Comunicaciones del Instituto Nacional de Ví­as, tel. +57 4285236 or 3831000, ext. 1230, 1242, 1251 y 1309 or visit www.invias.gov.coThe La Linea tunnel project includes a 8.8 km tunnel designed to cross the Andean mountain range and a dual carriageway connecting the tunnel with Cajamarca (Tolima) and Calarcí¡ (Quindí­o). The value of the Calarcí¡-Cajamarca section amounts to COP719 billion. The Calarcí¡-Cajamarca corridor project is divided in four sections: Buenaventura-Buga (section 1), Buga-La Paila (section 2 in concession), La Paila-Armenia-Ibagué, included the La Linea tunnel (section 3), and Ibagué-Bogota (section 4).Currently, Invias is building the pilot tunnel, which is expected to be finished in the first half of 2008. It serves as geological and geotechnical exploration to reduce the geological risks during construction of the main tunnel. As of 9th May, 2008, the pilot tunnel was 91% completed. Click here and co/15. 20/08.A total of eight consortiums submitted offers for the construction of the La Lí­nea tunnel. They are Korean consortium Posco Engineering & Construction-Daewoo Engineering & Construction; a Colombian-Chinese consortium named CGMA that includes local firm APA, and Chinese firms Mid-South Design & Research Institute (MSDI) and China Gezhouba Group Corp. (CGGC); Colombian-Brazilian consortium Plan Vial Pací­fico 2008 formed by Mario Huertas Cotes, OAS, Procopal, Meyan, and Ingenierí­a de Ví­as; Colombian consortium Conlí­nea that includes Conconcreto, CSS Constructores, Estyma Estudios y Manejos, Carlos Alberto y Luis Héctor Solarte Solarte; Imprecontec, an Italian-Colombian consortium of Impregilo, Conalví­as, Técnica Vial S en C, Infracon, and Gevia; the GTC JV grouping Grandi Lavori Fincosit of Italy, Translogistic, and Contorn Construcoes Ecomercio; a Mexican-Colombian consortium that includes Condux SA de CV, Constructora Herreí±a Fronpeca, Constructora Carlos Collins, Alvarez y Collins, Promotora Montecarlos Ví­as, Tíºneles de Colombia, Construirte, Gayco, Tecnicí­viles, HyH Arquitectura, and Miguel Camilo Castillo Huertas, and lastly Futura Tunnelexa, a joint venture of local firm Vergel y Castellanos, China Railway 18th Bureau Group Co., Oilequip, José Javier Castellanos Bautista, and Alfonso Vergel Herní¡ndez. The initiative is a major infrastructure development project designed to reduce travel time between Bogotí¡ and the country's Buenaventura port from over 12 hours currently to eight hours. The project will require an estimated investment of COP703 billion. Work proposals cannot exceed 70 months. The deadline to submit offers had been set for 29th August after having been pushed back several times, and was finally extended to 29th September. The project will be awarded to the consortium that submitted the lowest offer. National road institute Inví­as will announce the awardee on 10th November. Construction is due to start in December and conclude in 2012. Click here. 41/08.Construction of the 8.8 km-long La Lí­nea tunnel and the two-lane roads from Calarcí¡ in Quindí­o department and to Cajamarca in Tolima department, overall length 23.7 km, awarded to Segundo Centenario, value EUR206 million, of which the tunnel will account for EUR113 million. This is the fourth bidding attempt since August, 2001 (co/15). Tunnel excavation, at an altitude of over 2,500 m, should begin in the second half of 2009 and last 33 months. Commissioning is set for 2013. Segundo Centenario consortium comprises Colombian construction firms ílvarez y Collins, Carlos Collins, Promotora Montercalo Ví­as, Tíºneles de Colombia, Construirte, Constructores Gayco, Técnicas y Construcciones Civiles (Tecniciviles), HH Arquitectura and Miguel Camilo Castillo with Mexican firm Condux and Spanish firm Herrera Fronpeca. Visit www.invias.gov.co. 04/09.