Sacyr Concesiones has commissioned, three months ahead of schedule, the first section of Chile's Rutas del Desierto motorway PPP project.

This stretch connects the Airport to the city of Iquique. The whole project involves the development of a two-lane 78.4 km-long motorway. The road is located in the First Region of Chile (Region of Tarapacá), running through the municipalities of Pozo Almonte, Alto Hospicio and Iquique.

The project includes the construction of service roads, the construction of two bypasses, several level changing structures, various U-turn ramps, emergency areas and footbridges, among others.

The project is divided in two sections:

• Route 1, which has been already opened, measuring 31.4 kilometres and
• Route 16, from its junction with Route 5 to Iquique, spanning 47 kilometres.

The concession company will ultimately be investing US$165 million in this motorway, which it will be operating for the next 32 years.

In October 2011,  Sacyr Concesiones reached an agreement with the Chilean bank Corpbanca on the financing of the project.

Sacyr leads the field in construction and concessions in Chile and currently manages an investment of 2.3 billion dollars (1.8 billion euros) through 7 public works concession contracts, of which the following are under construction:

• La Serena -Vallenar highway concession (187 km);
• Ovalle- La Serena highway concession(85 km);
• Accesos a Iquique (80km);
• Concepción-Cabrero (103 km);
• America Vespucio Oriente highway concession (9 km) and
• Antofagasta Hospital Concession (670beds).

These are in addition to the Vallenar-Caldera section, which is now in operation.