📋 Tender Overview
More than 6000 people eleven years of work and an investment of 1 billion pesos have made possible the most important infrastructure work in the history of Colombia the construction of the La Lnea tunnel a work that connects the port of Buenaventura with the center of the country and with which the nation has been dreaming for more than a century.The project could have been just a wish were it not for the decision of the national government to undertake the excavation of the pilot tunnel in January 2005 which involved the drilling of 200000 m 3 of rock and required specialized machinery due to the special characteristics of the central mountain range as well as the construction of a wastewater treatment plant with the capacity to treat 200 liters per second. This decision was decisive since not only did it shed light on its viability but it also became the best study to know the geological geotechnical and hydrogeological characteristics of the central Andes mountain range between the departments of Tolima and Quindo.Once the excavation of the pilot tunnel was completed in 2008 in August 2009 work began on the main tunnel which by then had the required studies at 2400 meters above sea level and 900 meters deep below La Lnea.The work was undertaken by purely Colombian engineering with more than 6000 people including civil environmental topographic mechanical electrical and systems engineers. To carry it out it was required to remove 1000000 m 3 of rock which allowed opening a hole for the entrance of the tunnel similar to that of a 100 m 2 apartment and using 40000 tons of steel to support its structure which once built was covered with 450000 m 3 of concrete.As explained by the Minister of Transportation ngela Mara Orozco Gmez the La Lnea tunnel is the project that has had the largest number of studies in the structuring stage in the history of the country because it had definitive designs in phase 3 studies of designs and geophysics in addition to those required by the regulations and even with the environmental license before its bidding which shows the seriousness and commitment of the Government with the project and the tenacity of the heroes who carried out the works .The construction of the La Lnea tunnel to improve road safety and the level of service of the more than 6000 vehicles that daily travel the Cajamarca-Calarc road corridor including its excavation support lining paving and installation of electromechanical equipment had a duration of 4069 days. This means that each day approximately 2.13 meters were built on average a notable international indicator for this type of megaproject see attached video.From the financial point of view the total investment in the tunnel including its electromechanical equipment reached the figure of 315 million dollars that is an execution of 36400 dollars per linear meter a cost that is in the range of this type of megaprojects of underground work.However a project of this magnitude had to face great challenges.The first of them was technical explained the Director General of INVAS Juan Esteban Gil Chavarra because at that time Colombian engineering had to deal with groundwater large layers of volcanic ash and eight geological faults - along 3 2 kilometers of the 8.65 km long tunnel - which they had to treat and stabilize . Among the eight faults that were discussed was La Soledad classified by international experts as the second most complex geological and technical fault in tunnel construction in the world definitively stabilized in 2019.The second major challenge was related to the lack of financing of the works for 2 years between 2016 and 2018. And it is that at the beginning of the government of President Ivn Duque Mrquez the La Lnea tunnel did not have the resources for its completion its execution was around 56 and the works were abandoned.The engineer Gil Chavarra highlighted that in order to carry out an exhaustive monitoring of the contractual execution and guarantee the technical and safety conditions that this type of works require the Institute implemented a specialized management of the project.Thus in two years of management with the tenacity and perseverance of brave workers the national government not only completed the civil works of the tunnel on February 8 but also completed 44 of the pending works with which it is ad ports to deliver a modern tunnel 8.65 km long 12.5 m wide and 3 lanes 2 for operation and 1 for emergency equipped with state-of-the-art technology for its operation and safety which will positively impact development tourism and trade of the Coffee Axis and in the connectivity and equity of the country which makes it the tunnel for Colombians.
