Américo Vespucio Oriente Highway

Américo Vespucio Oriente Highway

Chile is a South American country trying to escape from its poor economic conditions. For any country to do that, it needs to have stable economic infrastructure. The construction of the Américo Vespucio east highway is a step towards that.

“The Américo Vespucio Oriente Highway in Chile is a 13 kilometer underground tolled motorway procured through a PPP. The project has been in development for nearly 10 years and is designed to address traffic congestion problems in the capital city of Santiago – reducing journey times between El Salto and Avenida Francisco Bilbao from 60 minutes to eight. If it succeeds, the judges said this would be a remarkable improvement to urban mobility. A consortium formed by OHL Concesiones and Sacyr Concesiones Chile was named preferred bidder in January 2014. Part of the tunnel will be bored and part will be cut-and-cover” (KPMG).

At present, construction has been delayed multiple times. The first phase would not be ready until 2021. Hopefully, when the highway is functional it brings some respite to Chile.