After investing $25 million in construction works, the new binational bridge that connects both countries and is located over the Sixaola River was inaugurated.
The total investment of this work was around $25 million, of which $10 million was contributed by the Mesoamerica Fund - Government of Mexico, and the governments of Costa Rica and Panama allocated $7.5 million each, according to a press release from the Ministry of Public Works of Panama (MOP).
Expansion of highways in Panama and El Salvador, construction of a border bridge in Guatemala and a cultural complex in Honduras are part of the public works to be developed in the region.
The interactive platform "Construction in Central America", compiled by the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, includes an up to date list of public and private construction projects to be built in the coming months.
In Costa Rica, an action of unconstitutionality filed almost three years ago is preventing the construction of a customs post on the border with Nicaragua, which would allow cargo transportation to be spared a distance of 160 kilometers.
Although the government has the $12 million needed for the final construction of the border post, where a temporary container has operated since 2013, the unconstitutionality action filed by the environmentalist Alvaro Sagot, is preventing the project from progressing.
On the Nicaraguan side everything is ready for cargo transported to and from the port of Limon to save 160 kilometers, through the customs post of Las Tablillas, but endless red tape is preventing works from starting in Costa Rica.
The Legislature granting approval for a loan to finance the work, completion of administrative procedures, the holding of a tender to hire a project manager who must then then tender the work internationally, are all of the steps that have to be completed to just to get work started at the customs post in Las Tablillas.
The consortium made up of the Costa Rican firm MECO and the Mexican firms Cal y Mayor y Asociados and Mexpresa has won the contract to design and build a bridge between Panama and Costa Rica, over the Sixaola River.
Thetenderconsists of the design and construction of a binational bridge over the river Sixaola, and construction is scheduled to begin in late February 2017. The new binational bridge will have one lane in each direction, and will include bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways.It is expected that the new border structure will be in service in the first quarter of 2018.
The Office for Project Services at the UN is putting out to tender the design and construction of a binational bridge over the Sixaola River.
The tender for the "Design and Construction of Binational Bridge over the River Sixaola under Sustainability Standards between Costa Rica and Panama," is only open, via contract or subcontract, to the following Private sector contracting companies:
The bridge building project which has been on paper since 2005 has been resurrected, with the announcement that the documents needed to tender the construction will be ready in March and the works will start in June.
Eleven years and half a dozen Panamanian and Costa Rican presidents have tried to put out to tender the construction of the bridge over the Sixaola river on the border between Costa Rica and Panama. Extreme bureaucracy, unenforceability and unfulfilled political promises surrounded the project which now has a new contract announcement.
The border crossing Las Tablillas de Los Chiles, Costa Rica, and San Pancho San Carlos, Nicaragua, started operating on May 2.
At the time of going to press time normal operations were reported on the Nicaraguan side, which on Saturday May 2 had not allowed vehicular traffic.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica:
On May 2, as planned, the Costa Rican authorities in charge of border controls started operations at the Los Tablillas border post. From 8:00 am the first lines appeared of people willing to make use of the new border crossing. Minutes later, the Police Force instructed the opening of the barrier which marks the junction of highways in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, in order to enable the crossing.
Different tariff policies from the rest of the region and inadequate infrastructure at border posts do not facilitate the country's integration into the Customs Union.
Authorities at the Customs Department claim that they have identified the aspects that need to be worked on and improved in order to achieve integration with other countries in the region.
The border area between Panama and the Caribbean coast in Costa Rica could receive a strong tourism boost if the plan to build a four lane bridge finally comes to fruition, a project which has been pending for ten years.
The Executive Unit would be the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), acting as an intermediary between the governments of Costa Rica and Panama, with jurisdiction over recruitment for the studies, design, construction and project supervision.
The Nicaraguan government is preparing transport concessions which will be granted from 2015 to cover the route that will connect Costa Rica once the Las Tablillas-San Pancho border post is finished.
It is expected that in the first three months of 2015 the results will be ready of a study that will determine the number of buses needed to meet the demand of passengers emerging with the opening of the route between San Pancho and Las Tablillas.
The border post to be opened by the government of Costa Rica in early 2015 in Las Tablillas will be used temporarily, until the permanent post has been built.
The border post is located in the north of Costa Rica, in an area near the bridge built by the Nicaraguan government in the San Juan area.
The Foreign Minister, Manuel González, told Ameliarueda.com that "...
The Santa Fe Bridge, built in Nicaragua over the San Juan River, 5 kilometers from the border with Costa Rica, will not be opened as long as the confrontation between the two governments continues.
362 meters long and 40 meters high, the Santa Fe Bridge required a $30 million investment donated by the Government of Japan.
At the same time as constructing the bridge, Nicaragua also built a road along the south coast of the river ending up on the border with Costa Rica, which will facilitate exports from the central region travelling to Puerto Limon in Costa Rica and also help the flow of Nicaraguans entering and exiting the border with their southern neighbor.
The 362 meter bridge above the San Juan river will streamline the transit of goods and create opportunities for the development of new logistics routes.
Construction of the bridge, which is being backed by Japan, should be finished by mid 2014.
An article in El Pueblo Presidente reports, "... agricultural producers expect to decrease their operating costs on exports to Puerto Rico and the United States.
The Permanent Bi-national Commission has urged the Ministries of Public Works of Panama and Costa Rica to construct a bridge over the river border at Sixaola in three months .
A temporary (bailey type) bridge is expected to be installed in October this year, after the Ministry of Public Works and Transport of Costa Rica (MOPT) have conducted technical studies and respective assessments, together with the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) of Panama.