The Brazilian Land Transportation Agency published on February 4 the invitation to tender for the concession of the bridge connecting Rio de Janeiro and Niterói ("Rio-Niterói Bridge").

The tender aims at granting the operation, maintenance, monitoring, conservation and improvement of the Rio-Niterói Bridge for a 30-year period. The future concessionaire will be responsible for building various road accesses with the purpose of improving the traffic in the bridge and its surroundings.

Companies interested in participating will have to demonstrate to be able to allocate to the project professionals with track record in road concession operations, bridge and viaduct construction, maintenance of bridges and pavement recovery.

The project is estimated at approximately US$ 1,9 billion. The date for submission of proposals is March 16, and the public session for opening of the proposals is scheduled to March 18.

The Rio-Niterói Bridge was built in the early 70's to avoid a 100 km road trip between the cities. The bridge is 13,29 km long, of which 8,83 are above water and it stands 72 meters from the water level. It is known as the longest prestressed concrete bridge of the southern hemisphere and it ranges among the longest bridges in the world.

The concession of the Rio-Niterói Bridge for private operation in 1995 was the first project of the Federal Brazilian Government road concession program, and will expire in June, 2015.

Please click here to access the official project page and bid documents. 

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