The Government of Chile, through the Ministry of Public Works, announced in late December that Concesiones Viarias Chile 3 (ACS) has emerged as the lowest bidder for the "Los Libertadores" border checkpoint concession project.

ACS' team beat out competition form the two other bidders that were shortlisted for the project one month ago, Besalco and Concesiones BT.

ACS' team proposed:

• a US$15 million fixed construction subsidy which will be paid five times during the construction period and
• a US$2.2 million fixed operation subsidy which will be paid twice a year during the concession period.

The new border checkpoint will be the first that will be carried out through a concession scheme. The facilities will be located near the old complex, at 68 km from Los Andes City in the Valparaiso region. The project includes the development of a three floors building, control areas for different types of vehicles, access roads and parking areas, among others.

The project involves the development, operation and maintenance of the new facilities. The concession period is 15 year, three of them will be for construction and the remaining twelve will be for operation and maintenance.

According to the Chilean Ministry of Public Works, the total project investment is estimated at about US$84 million. 

The new border checkpoint complex will have a capacity for up to 4.3 million tons of goods and 1.5 million people per year. The complex will be the main connection between Chile and Mercosur, a sub-regional bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.