Colombia receives 15 bids in US$1.1bn highway tender

Colombia has received 15 bids in the Autopista al Río Magdalena 1 highway tender, a 2.13tn-peso (US$1.09bn) project that is part of a master plan to expand road infrastructure throughout the country.

The plan includes a 159km highway, with 6 tunnels and 126 bridges that will connect western areas Antioquia, Eje Cafetero and Valle del Cauca to the Magdalena river, Cundinamarca and the northeast of the country, infrastructure national agency ANI said in a statement.

Among bidders are Constructora Andrade Gutierrez, Cintra, China Gezhouba Group Company, Ferrovial, Sacyr, Acciona,Odebrecht, Vinci and Graña y Montero.

Autopista al Río Magdalena 1 is part of Autopistas para la Prosperidad, a 40-project, 49.5tn-peso plan to ramp up Colombia's roads.

The Autopistas para la Prosperidad project will involve the construction of some 838km of two-lane highways, 63km of bridges and 90km of tunnels throughout Colombia.

Colombia expects that with its fourth generation of concessions, dubbed 4G, some 3%-6% of the national GDP will go towards infrastructure investments by 2016, compared to the current 1.5% of GDP, according to deputy infrastructure minister Javier Alberto Hernández.

For full list of bidding groups in Spanish, click here