MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Works begin in the extension of Ushuaia port facilities

Busy days at the port of Ushuaia

Works in upgrading and expanding the port of Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego province, have started with the arrival of the huge metal sleeves for the pylons on which the new commercial harbour structure will rest.

Casings are forty meters long by 1,50 meters diameter, and will lodge the seven pylons that will support the main transversal beams and hold the prefab concrete slabs with a 35 centimeters cement carpet.

The new commercial extension is planned to be eighty meters long and 26 wide, plus a twenty meters dolphin for smaller and mainly leisure vessels.

“This means that the long ambitioned and delayed, for over a decade, improvements in Ushuaia port facilities have finally started. Next week contractors will begin to fill the casings and drive the pylons to the sea bed”, Ushuaia Mayor Walter Vuoto said

The works have been contracted to UTE, which is made up of Panedile Argentina, ConcretCJ-Nor SA and Nakom Sur SA. According to the original plan the new extension should be delivered in fifteen months and will demand the equivalent of US$ 8 million of which the federal government will fund some US$ 2 million.