SANTIAGO – Metro de Santiago has launched the construction process of line 7. The company’s Division of Expansion Projects is in charge of the bidding for engineering assessment. Construction of the long promised metro line does face some challenges, officials believe.
Line 7 of Santiago’s subway is already proposed and ready to be started since the company’s Division of Expansion Projects has published the bidding requirements for contracts of specialized engineering assessment. Interested parties have to present proof of having executed at least two projects of similar size and importance. In addition, the fee to participate in the tender is around CLP$ 470,000, according to Latin-American Association of Subways and Undergrounds ALAMYS (Spanish acronym).
Moreover, interested companies need to have contracts for management assessment services, administration or engineering, or at least two projects of more or equal importance in both technical and economic terms. The projects they participated in have to be declared as finished or in progress within the last 10 years, and have to have carried investments of at least US$ 200 million each. To advance in the process, the company will take part in a press conference in the subway’s corporate building, and after that documents can be downloaded.
Building line 7 could face challenges. Transportation Undersecretary Carlos Melo told online daily emol “There is a great building challenge related to engineering. first we have the crossing with Mapocho river. Besides we have the simultaneous construction of line 6 and the combination produced between Los Leones and Tobalaba stations and a great amount of lines.”
According to emol, another challenge are the failures that occurred in November last year affecting the system’s key lines 1 and 2. Newly opened line 6 has seen multiple smaller failures as well since 2017, which need to be sorted out before another project can start. Furthermore, many residents of Ñuñoa, Pedro Aguirre Cerda and Providencia neighborhoods have complained about the strong vibrations line 6 trains produce when passing by.
Nevertheless, Metro de Santiago informed that they are working to solve the problems and continue to listen to citizens. The new lines planned until 2026, as well as the completion of line 3, will bring the total number of lines to nine and make the city’s subway network one of the largest in the world.
Editor-In-Chief Boris van der Spek is the founder of Chile Today.