FCC in for US$ 433 m tunnel project in Colombia

Spanish environmental services, infrastructure and water group, FCC, has secured a 1.1 trillion Colombian pesos (US$ 433.3 million) contract to build the Toyo tunnel in Colombia.

The ten-year project will include six years of construction work, with the remaining four split between design, operation and maintenance.

Once completed, the tunnel, at over 10 km, will be the longest of its kind in the country.

Intended to improve the connection between Medellín and the region of Urabá, the project also includes over 40 km of road construction work - part of which will be dual carriageway, passing through the difficult to access mountains of western Antioquia.

The road and tunnel network – in conjunction with a current highways programme – is expected to cut journey times between the capital of Antioquia and Urabá from six hours to around three-and-a-half hours.

Over the course of the undertaking, it is estimated that the project will directly create over 1,000 jobs.

A consortium, led by FCC, was awarded a 40% share of the project by the Government of Antioquia, while a group of local businesspeople will hold the remaining 60%.

FCC is currently working on two further projects in Colombia – a dredging project on the Bogota river, in the vicinity of Bogota city, and the construction of a control tower at El Dorado airport, again in the country's capital.