Argentina/Chile working on tunnel under the Andes linking the Atlantic and Pacific
By 2022 if all works out as planned the Aconcagua Bi-Oceanic corridor should link the Atlantic with the Pacific coast of South America facilitating trade and business opportunities.
This means building a costly tunnel under the mighty Andes cordillera, a challenge undertaken by engineers from the region and Corporacion America, an Argentine capital fund with interests in Latam and European airports, agriculture and services under the leadership of Eduardo Eurnekian.
The Armenian descent Argentine born entrepreneur not only has the concession of all major airports in Argentina and Uruguay but also helped finance the Argentine memorial in the Falkland Islands which holds the remains of Argentine combatants killed during the ground and air battles in the Islands during the 74-day conflict of 1982 following the Argentine invasion.
Under the planned Bi-Oceanic corridor instead of pushing cargo over a 10,500-foot pass that is often blocked by snow for weeks, Corporacion America plans to build the longest tunnels in the Americas right through the mountains. That would make billions of dollars' worth of Chinese electronics, Chilean wine, Argentine food, and Brazilian cars cheaper and more competitive.
The proposed 3.5 billion dollars private railway project would link train and trucking hubs on both sides with a 205-kioometers-long railway, including twin 51-kilometers tunnels. Construction would take 10 years, but once completed, it could save millions of dollars and carve days off shipping times. The line would link the town of Los Andes in Chile with Lujan de Cuyo in Argentina.
As it stands, the only major Andean pass in the southern half of the continent is snowed in each winter, stranding for 45 to 60 days hundreds of cargo trucks in temperatures that can fall to minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit. And Pacific ports remain inaccessible to the Atlantic nation of Brazil, whose trans-Amazonian highway becomes a boggy mess even before reaching the mountains.
“There is a gigantic network of infrastructure on both sides of the mountain range with a bottleneck we must free up,” said engineer Nicolas Posse, who is directing the project for Corporacion America.
The Argentine company leads a consortium that proposed the project, and both governments have committed to it as a matter of “national interest,” creating a bi-national commission that is inviting bids. Initial feasibility studies have been submitted, and construction could begin next year.
Currently, much of the processed soy oils, wine, and meat Argentina sends to China, as well as Asian electronics destined for Brazil, must first sail around the tip of South America, adding nearly 3,000 nautical miles and another week to the trip. Shipping by rail between Atlantic and Pacific ports would unite the most productive regions of Chile and its South American neighbors, making trade more competitive for all involved.
The shipping cost would drop from 210 to 177 dollars a ton for cargo that now moves between Cordoba, Argentina, and Manzanillo, Mexico, the closest major port with direct rail links to the eastern United States.
The initial annual cargo traffic is estimated at 13 million tons, increasing to 24 million tons in the first leg of the project planned to be opened in 2022.
Suggested Stories
-
May 23rd 2013
Cristina Fernandez administration limits overseas dollar extractions to a minimum
-
May 22nd 2013
Uruguay: Mujica on a most ambitious mission to China after investments for ports and railways
-
May 20th 2013
Brazil trapped by Argentina and Venezuela economic mismanagements
-
May 24th 2013
Pacific Alliance agrees to eliminate tariffs for 90% of goods beginning July
42 comments Feed
Note: Comments do not reflect MercoPress’ opinions. They are the personal view of our users. We wish to keep this as open and unregulated as possible. However, rude or foul language, discriminative comments (based on ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or the sort), spamming or any other offensive or inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Please report any inadequate posts to the editor. Comments must be in English. Thank you.
It must be done by now...
Theoretically such infrastruction projects should reduce freight prices, but those gains can then easily be lost to protectionist measures at the border.
Mind you if Chile do get involved with this fantastical project they need to have their money in an escrow account before anything else. I would also build in explosive charges at the border (under the mountain) to stop any future Argentine invasion.
But we all know one thing, do we not: SAYING IT ISN’T DOING IT!
With all respect, you lot don't classify as partners and you might be screwed for sports...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ch4rsMmZI
Como te quedó el ojo mr brit..??? Cry us a river then go back to licking Chiles cojones we like watching english people do tricks for our entertainment. Everyday UK and US civilians work up a show for us almost like Hollywood. But the rest of us know none of it is real, I wonder if they know, shhhhhhhhhh let's wait and see if they ever come down from cloud nine. If not just keep cknocking them down, you know what they say the higher they go the harder the fall.
www.gregpalast.com/the-globalizer-who-came-in-from-the-cold/
This ARGIE has everything I like...
good looks...
good grooming
very sexy looking man!
I can imagine the headline in maybe a year a half from now.........
”Tunnel venture collapses due to lack of funds. wherebouts of the board members still a mystery“
LOL!!
If you are looking for a business partner in Argentina... Look in Brazil, at best, this is just another agreement for the Argentines to sign and then ignore. Poor Chile will reach the half way point and then be stuck there waiting for the next 20 years for the Argentines to complete ”their bit“ which will be, by that time, rife with corruption, massively overbudget and way, way behind schedule.
Maybe I'm being too hard on poor widdle Argentina, I'm sure this joint venture will prove to be a successfully one and this project will get seen through to fruition........ right up to the point where the Argentine government ”siezes“ it for some trumped up charge of ”underfunding”.......... LOL!!!
If there is any businessman that will see a deal through, it's this man.
do you mean a tunnel that has water running through it,
like the panama canal.
now that joins two oceans together.
or do you mean a tunnel, that mearly connects two countries together, that actualy stops before it his the sea, as choo,, choo, trains cannot swim......
just a thought.
Do you have any bullet trains in US?
Do you have any bullet trains in Argentina?
anwser the question, and stop changing the subject.
@11 Oh no. We'd like to see you succeed at something.....someday, preferably without cheating, lying, stealing or killing anybody. When shall we say? 2512?
@14 Going to be digging the tunnels and laying the track himself then, is he? Watch for the strikes and other industrial action when the workers (a rare breed in argieland) find out how much they are not getting paid for risking their lives. What's the going rate? 10 pesos a day? Or are they going to insist on US dollars?
whenyou can just nip to the local shop.
you must be made of money .lol.
Therefore, Argentina will drag this out, with countless demands and concessions and will force additional new extortions after the agreements are signed that will cause it to be delayed until 2040. Sort of reason that the country does not progress.
And like Lula said democracy is alternance in power.
We must learn and build for the future the way for a better democracy.
Eurnekian is good serious empresario. Not like the corrupts in gov. (Boudou for ex, with Ciccone)
Please, tell everyone that we are married...yes, please...I need you...please...
you should be dePato, not dePavo.
Well she quacks like one and she probably walks like one!
LOL
Well I for one, am impressed by Eduardo Eurnekian, successful entrepreneur and man of some integrity, it seems:
... helped finance the Argentine memorial in the Falkland Islands which holds the remains of Argentine combatants killed during the ground and air battles in the Islands during the 74-day conflict of 1982 following the Argentine invasion.
I don't know if his partners are reliable, though. :-(
I'm reliably informed that she looks like one too!
Poor duck, to have such a comparison.
I'm starting to think you share birthday with CFK, and nature hasn't been fair in its distribution :))))
When is her birthday?
Nature probably hasn't been fair, she is downright oogly.
l can't judge myself of course, but l think that l'd pass muster.
l couldn't care less about her.
To me, she is a non-person, as you are.
I would be vary careful at this point.
Guzz is trying to court you: perhaps he wants to usurp 'I Don't Think' in your affections. :o)
I think you are right about Guzz,(who may well BE Think, for all we know).
l enjoy sparring with Think, but thats all that is in it.
Anyway sr Think has told me that l'm too young for him, :-)))))))))
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!