8-lane highway to Arraijan linked to fourth canal bridge
THE EXPANSION of the 10 kilometer stretch of highway between the Bridge of the Americas and Arraijan, will likely be completed in two years.
The Loma Cová consortium, made up of Constructora Meco and Acciona Infraestructura, won
the contract to expand the PanAmerican Highway and will start in connection with the building the fourth bridge over the Panama Canal.
The consortium’s proposal was for $335.5 million, the highest of the four submitted by the companies interested in this contract that had a reference price of $325.8 million.
The other companies that submitted tenders were CSECConalvías ($269.7 million), FCC
Construcción ($335.2 million) and AstaldiMCM ($322.6 million.)
Half an hour before the winner was published in PanamaCompra, Public Works Minister Ramón Arosemena and Deputy Minister Marietta Jaén defended the bidding process.
“This tender gives us greater transparency in our public acts” Jaén said.
“Taking into account the expansion of the highway to eight lanes and the construction of six interchanges, this is equivalent to the construction of 35 kilometers of highway.”
The work must be ready within a period of 30 months. But at the press conference, officials said they will ask the company to finish in 24 months.
