Investors

Three bid on Colombia’s longest bridge

Three bidders have emerged in the tender to construct the New Pumarejo Bridge, which at 3,800 metres, will become Colombia’s longest bridge when complete.

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Three entities have submitted bids in the tender for construction of the estimated COP$625 billion (€223.9 million; $282.0 million) New Pumarejo Bridge, according to Colombia's Instituto Nacional de Vias (Invias, or National Highway Institute). 

Bidders include SES Consortium Magdalena Bridge, Infrastructure Branch Tradeco Colombia, and the Magdalena River Bridge International Consortium.

SES, a consortium comprised of Esgamo Engineers Builders, Sacyr Chile Colombia, and Sacyr Construction Colombia, came in with the lowest bid of COP$614.9 billion.

Infrastructure Branch Tradeco Colombia, a Mexican firm, submitted an offer of COP$620 billion. The Magdalena River Bridge International Consortium draws on the resources of the Italy's INC SPA NCSPA OI and GIS Southwestern International Group with a proposal of COP$624.9 billion.

The 3,800-metre bridge will feature three lanes in either direction – six in total – and crosses the Magdalena River, connecting the cities of Barranquilla and Santa Marta. The New Pumarejo will serve as an alternative to the existing bridge between the Magdalena and Atlantico departments.

“With the construction of this new bridge, we not only advance the departments of the Atlantic and Caribbean regions, but also Magdalena and the country [as a whole] with new infrastructure in line with international standards, which allows greater competitiveness in commercial terms,” said Transport Minister Natalia Abello Vives in a MinTransporte (Ministry of Transportation) release.

Bids will be evaluated until March 18, with the project award being announced by March 31. Work is expected to be carried out from 2015 to 2018, according to Invias.

The project was originally announced in December 2011.