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

  • Mexico’s Durango-Mazatlan highway sets tunnel safety standard
    August 26, 2016
    Mauro Nogarin looks at the management of the longer tunnels on Mexico’s Durango-Mazatlan highway. In recent years the National Infrastructure Fund of Mexico has increased investment in the installation of ITS systems on selected highways to increase road safety. One such major investment is the 230km long Durango-Mazatlan highway which is 12m in width and has an average speed of 110km/h.
  • Authorities switch on to all electric buses as costs tumble
    January 9, 2018
    Alan Dron looks at changes in bus propulsion as cities look to improve air quality and seek to reduce maintenance costs. Despite the ending of various incentives to adopt alternative fuels, the introduction of electric buses by US transit authorities is picking up speed as performance improves, costs drop and air quality considerations become increasingly significant. More US bus manufacturers are introducing zero-emission models and some recent contracts will see many more passengers getting their first
  • Smart city concept to be developed for Russian city
    April 3, 2012
    Skolkovo foundation has held a tender for the development of a smart city concept which has been won by a consortium of Russia-based Cognitive Technologies IT company, Ernst & Young consulting company from the UK and Japan-based Panasonic. Skolkovo, near Moscow, is also known as the Russian Silicon Valley, and the contract is worth US$3.06 million.
  • Slow moving US road user charging programme
    July 18, 2012
    Bern Grush recently attended the Mileage-Based User Fee Conference in Austin Texas where the fledgling American landscape for Road User Charging is beginning to take shape. When I was a kid I liked to poke sticks into the ants' nests in sidewalk cracks. Ants would scatter in every conceivable direction. They ran in circles, they ran over and through each other. They screamed without logic. I was fascinated.