Skip to main content

Brazil-Spain group could lose highway contract

An engineering consortium made up of Brazil's Mendes Junior and Spain's Isolux Corsán could be stripped of its US$208 million contract to build part of the northern stretch of the Mario Covas beltway surrounding the city of São Paulo. The consortium, led by Mendes Junior, is having difficulty honouring commitments due to a lack of cash flow and, according to São Paulo state highway company Dersa, it is not completing works according to the contract schedule signed in January 2013, local paper Folha de Sã
April 10, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
RSSA consortium of Brazil's 6871 Mendes Junior and Spain's 1954 Isolux Corsán could lose its US$208 million contract to build part of the northern section of the Mario Covas beltway around the Brazilian city of São Paulo.

The consortium, led by Mendes Junior, is falling behind schedule because of cash flow problems, according to São Paulo state highway company 5947 Dersa. The deal was signed in January 2013, local paper Folha de São Paulo reported.

If matters do not improve this month, "it is very likely that we will terminate our agreement based on a breach of contract," Dersa president Laurence Casagrande was quoted as saying.

The 180km Rodoanel Mário Covas beltway is partially with a radius of around 23km from the geographical centre of Sao Paulo. It was named after Mário Covas, mayor of the city between 1983–1985 and a state governor from 1994-2001 until his death from cancer. It is a controlled access highway with a speed limit of 100kph.

The northern segment is the last of the bletway’s four sections to be built. Construction of Dersa’s stretch of the northern section was originally scheduled to be completed last year but was rescheduled to January 2016. However, at the beginning of this year, Dersa pushed back the completion date to the first half of 2017.

If terminated, Dersa could transfer the work to local construction company 4740 Odebrecht, which submitted the next best offer for the contract. If not, a new tender for the remaining work could be launched, according to the news report.

Mendes Junior is one of many engineering companies under investigated by the federal government's so called car wash corruption probe.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • German cities order Bombardier Transportation light rail vehicles
    March 20, 2015
    Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation has signed contracts with both the Düsseldorf Rheinbahn and Cologne transport authorities (KVB) for the delivery of 62 Flexity light rail vehicles in total. The contract with KVB is for 20 vehicles and is valued at approximately US$68 million. Rheinbahn’s contract for 42 vehicles, with an option for 16 additional vehicles, is valued at approximately US$135 million.
  • Canada invests in Vancouver’s EV charging infrastructure
    February 15, 2019
    The government of Canada is investing CAN$300,000 in the construction of six electric vehicle (EV) fast chargers in Vancouver. This funding is part of the government’s CAN$182.5m investment to develop a fast-charging network for EVs and establish natural gas stations along roads and hydrogen stations in metropolitan areas. The chargers are partially funded through the Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative, a programme which falls under Canada’s $180 billion Inves
  • Siemens technology supports UK’s first connected road test environment
    June 2, 2016
    Intelligent traffic systems company Siemens has begun working on its latest Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) project, in a collaborative partnership to create one of the most advanced environments for CAV technologies in the UK. Together with nine other consortium members, the UK Connected Intelligent Transport Environment (UK CITE) project will see trials on UK roads as early as next year, following a successful application for funding from the Government’s US%$144 million (£100 million) Intelli
  • IRD wins WIM contract in California
    March 28, 2012
    International Road Dynamics. (IRD) has been awarded a US$1.345 million contract to provide a high speed weigh-in-motion (WIM) and verification system for a new commercial vehicle enforcement facility (CVEF) in Solano County, California. This system will be used by local enforcement personnel for selecting and directing commercial vehicles into the CVEF and by Caltrans for traffic planning purposes.