Argentina and Chile have agreed to finance the Agua Negra tunnel project, which will connect both countries, by direct investment.

Each country will finance the infrastructure located in its territory. Twenty eight per cent of the tunnel is located in Chilean territory and the rest in Argentine territory.

The total project investment is estimated at US$850 million. The period to develop the project would be 10 years, 2 for the design and engineering studies and the remaining 8 years for construction.

In July 2013, the two countries, launched a Request for expressions of Interest to build the Agua Negra tunnel. Later in October 2013,  23 companies or teams expressed interest.

The list of companies/teams interested in the project is the following:

1. Constructora Norberto Odebrecht SA.,
2. Hochtief Construcción Chilena Ltda.,
3. China Railway 18 th Bureau (Group) Co Ltd.,
4. CSCEC-PAMAR SA.,
5. China Communication Construction Company Ltd.,
6. SK ENG & CONST. CO.Ltd.,
7. FCC Construcción SA.,
8. China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd & Electroingeniería SA.,
9. Construcoes y Comercio Camargo Correa & Panedile SA.,
10. Sinohydro Group Ltd.,
11. Hyundai Engineering & Construction & China Shandog International Economic & Technical Cooperation Group Co. Ltd.,
12. Dragados, Dycasa, Techint and Besalco,
13. Obrascon Huarte Lain SA. OHL,
14. Queiroz Galvao SA. & José Cartellone Construcciones Civiles SA,
15. Construtora OAS SA
16. Impregilo Spa.,
17. Consorcio Internacional Túnel Agua Negra: IECSA SA, Benito Roggio e Hijos SA. and Ghella Spa.,
18. Astaldi-Daewoo,
19. Skava Consulting,
20. Consorcio Paso Agua negra: ICA, GyM and Copasa,
21. Constructora CONPAX SA.,
22. Acciona Infraestructuras SA and
23. Strabag Ag.

The project will have two parallel tunnels, one for each direction, 13.9 km in length. The Argentine entrance will be at altitude of 4,085 meters, and the Chilean entrance at 3,620 meters.

It is strategically located within the central belt of both countries and was considered a high-priority investment, because it attracts traffic itself that does not compete with any other road.

El Paso de Agua Negra is one of the 13 projected roads that Chile and Argentina have agreed to receive preferential budgetary attention, for the purpose of improvement. The 13 projects have a total investment estimated at US$2200 million. This investment plan is expected to be completed by 2030.a