Spotlight: The tenders for Mexico’s US$100mn Yaqui aqueduct

The Mexican government began implementing a plan this year to build the 2bn-peso (US$101mn) Yaqui aqueduct in Sonora state, a water distribution system comprising five projects to deliver 200l/s of water to 50 indigenous communities.

According to its cost-benefit analysis in the finance ministry's (SHCP) investment portfolio, the projects include an intake work at the existing Oviachi dam, a more than 180km-pipeline network that will be divided into two pumping pipelines and two gravity drive lines, a water treatment plant, a regulation tank and water delivery branches. 

Water authority Conagua has launched and awarded five construction tenders for the pipeline network. Meanwhile, construction contracts for the plant and intake work are set to be awarded before year-end, according to records on procurement site Compranet.

BNamericas takes a look at the current status of the tenders.

Intake

Conagua received five bids on November 2 ranging from 140-190mn pesos for the construction of the intake. The winner will be unveiled on December 16, according to the tender (LO-016B00985-E226-2022) documents. 

The authority also received nine bids ranging from 4-9mn pesos for supervising the works. The winner of this tender (LO-016B00985-E237-2022) will be presented on December 16 as well. 

The intake will extract 212l/s from the Ovichi dam at a height of almost 50m, according to the cost-benefit analysis.

Water treatment plant

Conagua received bids for building the plant on December 1, but they have not yet been uploaded on Compranet. The authority is scheduled to unveil the winner of the tender (LO-016B00985-E234-2022) on December 12, according to the tender call. 

At the same date, Conagua received 14 bids ranging from 4-13mn pesos to supervise the project’s construction. The naming of the winner is scheduled for December 12. 

The plant will have a capacity of 210l/s and will be built on a 1.3ha area, according to the cost-benefit analysis.

Aqueduct 

Throughout the year, Conagua launched five tenders for building the aqueduct. Of those, four have been awarded and one is still pending bids submission.

The first tender (PC-016B00985-E236-2022) comprises the stretch from the Pitahaya to the Baugo community, and it is the one that does not have a bids submission date yet. 

The second tender (AO-016B00985-E227-2022) was for the stretch from Bataconcia to the regulation tank and it was awarded on November 29 to ASCH for 216mn pesos.

The third involved the stretch from the Casas Blancas to the Bahía de Lobos communities and it was awarded on August 4 for 76mn pesos to a consortium made up of ECA Construcciones y Acabados and Trituasfaltos. 

The fourth and fifth tenders involved the stretches going from the Papalote community to Pitahaya (LO-016B00985-E112-2022) and the one that goes from the Bataconcica community to Papalote (LO-016B00985-E56-2022). Of these, the first was awarded on June 22 to Magnamaq for 122mn pesos and the second went to Constructora Vigovi on April 12 for 253mn pesos.