Skip to main content

Chile awards China $1.1bn toll deal

CRCC will have concession on 195km Talca-Chillán toll highway on Route 5
By Adam Hill April 12, 2021 Read time: 1 min
CRCC offered a total concession income of around $1.1bn (image courtesy: Chile’s General Directorate of Public Works Concessions)

Chile has awarded China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) a build-concession contract to upgrade and operate a 195km toll highway - the Talca-Chillán section of Route 5.

CRCC offered a total concession income of around US$1.1 billion in what Chile’s General Directorate of Public Works Concessions said is the first such contract awarded to a Chinese group. CRCC won over proposals from Sacyr Concesiones Chile and Consortium Cintra-Intervial.   

The contract is for a variable but maximum term of 32 years. 

Construction includes a 56km bypass and additional lanes to 30kms of existing road, 39km of bicycle lanes and 32 footbridges.

CRCC will also upgrade drainage, lighting and landscaping, improve connectivity to local roads and over time replace 18 existing cash toll plazas with 13 scanning gantries that read motorists’ tags for electronic payment.

The project was first tendered in October 2019 but the awarding has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Various government approvals are pending and work is not expected to start before the first half of 2025.
 

Related Content

  • March 26, 2012
    Sao Paulo to launch US$1.1 billion tender for bus infrastructure
    The city council of Sao Paulo in Brazil is to launch a US$1.1 billion tender process to improve its bus capacity. The project will include four new bus lanes, refurbishment works on two existing lanes and the construction of five small bus terminals and two inter-municipal terminals. The current government of Sao Paulo city is envisaging the creation of 66km of bus lanes and the construction of nine bus terminals. Meanwhile, the Governor of Sao Paulo has announced that the works for the extension of the Li
  • August 5, 2013
    Travel times halve for tolling converts
    The Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver is a prime example of how the latest ITS systems enable new infrastructures to be built and paid for while still providing additional user benefits. Vancouver has 2.2 million inhabitants and, like so many major cities, is divided into two by a river, the Frazer river. This combination makes Vancouver the second most congested city in North America and the most congested in Canada. Through the middle of the city runs the Trans-Canadian Highway 1 which crosses the Frazer Riv
  • April 17, 2012
    Strategic road deals across India
    A series of key highway projects will help transform India’s internal links as well as its connections to neighbouring nations. A new US$1.2 billion highway in India running through Ahmedabad-Udaipur-Kishangarh through the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan is attracting strong interest. So far 11 bids have been made including offers from a consortium comprising Belford-GVK, Soma-Isolux, Vince-Hindustan Construction, IRB Infrastructure (IRB)-Reliance Infra and Plus-Nagarjuna Construction. Other bidders include
  • April 30, 2015
    The UK’s busiest crossing adopts free flow charging
    Colin Sowman looks at the transition to free-flow charging on the Dartford Crossing, a notorious congestion blackspot on the UK motorway network. The Dartford Crossing, where London’s orbital M25 motorway crosses the lower reaches of the River Thames 32km (20 miles) to the east of Central London, has long been a major source of congestion. Now, to alleviate the congestion caused by some 50 million crossings per year, the Highways Agency has adopted a free-flow charging system - but the Crossing’s location a