Río Grande port project redesign ready in 2-3mths

The redesign to complete a port project for Argentine coastal town Río Grande in Tierra del Fuego province will be ready in two to three months, the province's works and public services minister Jorge López told BNamericas. The redesign will return the project to the original on-shore scheme, said López, adding the current works contract held by Ormas-Andrade Gutierrez will probably have to be renegotiated. Another option would be to relaunch bidding. Starting 5-6 years ago, the original project called for an on-shore port, which was then modified to an offshore project. Due to economic problems and currency devaluations in the region during that time, project prices became outdated, causing the provincial government to suspended the project. At the time of its suspension, the project was priced at some US$80mn. About 40% of the works were completed before the suspension, among them a breakwater and viaduct. The on-shore scheme calls for a multi-purpose port and maintaining the offshore infrastructure already in place for fuel shipments. It would allow cargo to discharge directly at Rio Grande and avoid having to ship it by land some 250km from Ushuaia port.