La Linea Deadline Extended

Colombia's national highway authority Invias has extended the bidding deadline for the La Linea tunnel construction contract by two weeks to February 25 at the request of participating insurance companies, newspaper Portafolio reported. The US$270mn project will connect the towns of Ibague and Armenia in central Colombia via an 8.6km traffic tunnel. Works are expected to take 6.5 years. Three companies - Colombia's Conconcreto, Spain's Ferrovial and France's Bouygues - have purchased bidding rules. These are the same three that participated in the previous auction for the project last year, which broke down when none of the companies placed a bid, saying the estimated costs failed to consider inherent geotechnical problems. The paper also reported that the La Linea tunnel project has received the backing of the Bogota, Quindio and Tolima Chambers of Commerce, as well as the Colombian chapter of the International Chamber of Commerce and the Colombian Society of Engineers.