Mota-Engil is expected to sign a contract by the end of the year for the concession of a tunnel between the cities of Santos and Guarujá in Brazil, following their success in the auction last Friday, according to a market communication.
The company confirmed in a note published by the Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários (CMVM) that “on September 5 [Friday], through its subsidiary Mota-Engil Latam Portugal, S.A., it won the auction for the concession of the tunnel that will connect the cities of Santos and Guarujá, on the coastline of São Paulo, Brazil.”
Earlier, it was reported that Mota-Engil secured the concession to construct and operate the submersed tunnel, the first of its kind in Brazil, and the most expensive infrastructure project under the government of Lula da Silva, for 30 years.
The construction company clarified today that, however, “this is merely the first phase of a process leading to the awarding and subsequent signing of the contractual documentation, which is expected to occur by the end of the current year.”
Mota-Engil also mentioned that “the concession, with an investment amounting to approximately 8 billion reais, equivalent to 1.255 billion euros, of which up to 5.8 billion reais will come from public contributions equally divided between the government of São Paulo and the federal government, with the remainder being the responsibility of the concessionaire company, will last 30 years.”
The tunnel, spanning 1.5 kilometers, with 870 meters submerged in an oceanic channel leading to Brazil’s largest port, will connect the port city of Santos to the tourist destination Guarujá. It will accommodate cars, trucks, and buses, as well as a tram, and will include space for pedestrians and cyclists.
Its construction will enable vehicles to reduce a journey that currently takes an hour via a 43-kilometer road or 18 minutes by ferry, excluding wait times in queues, to just five minutes.
