Longest Latin American tunnel slated for falling short of expectations

A ROAD tunnel billed as the greatest achievement of Colombian road engineering came under scathing criticism on Sunday for its cost, the duration of its construction and for being a one-way.

President Ivan Duque on Friday inaugurated the 8.5km La Linea tunnel, described in Colombia as the longest in Latin America, which passes through the Andes’ central mountain range.

The tunnel linking Cajamarca with Calarca saves drivers 21km of travel along a winding road at up to 3 600m above sea level. It aims to reduce the time and cost of moving goods from the port of Buenaventura to the centre of the country.

The tunnel was “badly planned, badly designed, badly tendered, with bad contracts and... badly executed”, wrote German Vargas Lleras, who was Colombia’s vice-president from 2014 to 2017 while it was being built.

The construction time of 11 years was four years longer than planned, critics pointed out.

The government gave the cost as about 1 trillion pesos (R4.5 billion) – twice the original budget – but Vargas Lleras said the real cost was five times the original budget.

Many Colombians were also surprised to find out that the tunnel is one-way, allowing only for travel from the south-west to the centre of the country.

Those travelling the other way must take the old mountain road, though traffic there will be much easier than before.

Transport Minister Angela Maria Orozco said it had not been possible to build two tunnels in the mountain at the same time.

Initial reports said the tunnel was getting another section leading in the opposite direction, allowing lorries to transport export goods to Buenaventura.

Orozco said the government would consider possible offers from private companies to build it.

“There is little to celebrate,” Vargas Lleras concluded in a column in the daily El Tiempo on Sunday.

Senator Gustavo Bolivar tweeted that the project had been “wrapped in corruption and cost overruns”, and some other politicians and media outlets also published critical comments.

The tunnel will form part of transport infrastructure including more than 20 other tunnels and about 30 viaducts.