Last week two teams submitted technical bids for construction and operation of the Monterrey VI water pipeline in Mexico through a public private partnership contract.

The teams involves in the tender process are the following:

• Empresas ICA's subsidiary Controladora de Operaciones de Infraestructura, RECSA and Grupo HIGA; and
• Abeinsa Infraestructuras Medio Ambiente, the local subsidiary of Spanish group Abengoa.

The pipeline will serve Nuevo León state capital Monterrey.

Monterrey local water utility SADM is tendering a public-private partnership (PPP) for the construction and operation of the 372km pipeline, which will carry water from the Pánuco river basin, in San Luis Potosí state, to Monterrey.

The system will include 6 pump stations, access and maintenance roads, as well as electrical transmission lines and interconnections for each pump station. Water delivered to the Cerro Prieto - Monterrey system will be delivered to the Monterrey Metropolitan Area for use. The pipeline will have the capacity to transfer 5m3/s.

The aqueduct, pumping plants and water treatment plant will be built according to the DBOT scheme (design, build, operate, and transfer), with a 30-year concession for operation.

The total project investment is estimated at about US $1,180 million. National infrastructure fund Fonadin is expected to contribute 2.97 billion pesos and the winning bidder will provide the rest.

Financial bids will be submitted on August 28 and the tender process will be awarded on September 8. Operations for the Monterrey VI pipeline are expected to start in December 2017.