HOCHTIEF has launched another toll-based project: the end of May sees the opening of the 60 kilometer Puentes del Literal road-and-bridge link between the Argentinian cities of Rosario and Victoria. This means that the company now operates 700 kilometers of toll routes around the world. “We now want to bring our knowhow to bear in Germany as well”, says Dr. Hans-Peter Keitel, HOCHTIEF CEO, emphasizing that private capital would enable the investment backlog in the field of public-sector infrastructure to be overcome and urgently needed improvement and expansion measures to be undertaken.
The Puentes del Litoral project has a total investment volume of USD 385 million (EUR 324 million), of which over a third is privately financed. HOCHTIEF has a 26 percent share in the concessionary. Other partners are Impregilo of Italy and three Argentinian firms. Construction work began in 1998 but had to be interrupted for a year because of Argentina’s difficult economic situation; it was resumed earlier this year and has now been brought to a successful conclusion. The concessionary, in which HOCHTIEF plays a leading role, will now operate the toll link up to 2023. At the core of the link is a four-lane cable-stayed bridge more than 600 meters in length over the River Paraná. It crosses this important shipping route at a height of 60 meters, so that even large vessels from overseas have unrestricted access to the local harbors. This long-awaited new toll-based route connects the provinces of Santa Fé and Entre Ríos in Argentina and forms a vital element in the important long-distance road corridor between Argentina and Brazil.