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Chile's Ministry of Public Works (MOP) has launched a tender process for the Catemu Reservoir, which is part of the Special Program of Reservoirs of the Ministry of Public Works.

The concession entails the construction and operation of a reservoir, with the objective to ensure and allow irrigation to sectors of the second, third and fourth sections of the Aconcagua river valley basin.

The total project investment is estimated at CLP 11,107,000 (US$ 470 million) and the concession term is 22 years.

The submission of offers is scheduled for January 4 and the opening of economic offers for the 30th of the same month of 2018. The start of works is estimated to begin in 2021 and the construction would last five years.

The project will be located in the Valparaíso Region, in a sector called Cerrillos de Catemu, about 11 km north of the town of the same name. The new reservoir will have an irrigation capacity of 180 million m3, flooding a total area of ​​approximately 500 hectares.

The project includes the development of a Concrete Face Rockfill Dam type wall, which, in simple terms, is defined as a wall of permeable rock and / or gravels compacted with a concrete screen on the upstream face. The size of the wall will be 1,600 meters long and 65 meters high.

In addition, the project comprises a 25.7 km feeder channel, which will allow the conduction of water from the Aconcagua River basin to the reservoir, increasing the storage of water resources.

We have recently reported about several projects in Chile:

• Rutas del Loa Concession in Calama
• Puerto Montt airport concession (2017) PPP Project
• Austral fiber optic PPP project
• Route G-60 ’Conexión Vial Melipilla- Camino de la fruta’ concession
• Route 68-78 connection PPP Project
• Ruta del Canal (Puerto Montt - Pargua) PPP project