Colombia's National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) has awarded the Cartagena - Barranquilla corridor concession project to the consortium led by Mario Alberto Huertas.

The winning consortium is formed by Colombia's Mario Alberto Huertas Cotes (75%) and Costa Rica's Constructora Meco S.A. (25 %).

The team beat out competition from tow other consortia:

• Infraestructura Vial de Colombia: formed by CSS Constructores, Controladora de Operaciones de Infraestructura, Alca Ingeniería, Estyma and Latinoamericana de Construcciones S.A and

• PSF Concesión del Caribe: formed by Grupo Odinsa, Construcciones El Cóndor , Termotécnica Coindustrial , Icein and Mota - Engil Engenharia e Construcao.

The PPP highway project involves the design, construction, financing, operation and improvement the new road. The term of the concession contract will be 26 years.

The total investment for the project will be around US$844 million.

The project is divided in two sections. The first section is located in the route 90 A (Cartagena - Barranquilla). Between the departments of Bolívar and Atlántico, the highway will have a length of around 110 km. While the second section includes the construction of a dual carriageway with a length of about 37 km, between the municipalities of Malambo and Puerto Colombia.

This is the second highway concession that the consortium formed by Mario Alberto Huertas Cotes and Constructora Meco wins in the year 2014. In early June, the consortium won the Girardot-Puerto Salgar highway concession.

ANI announced also in June that a consortium composed of Iridium Concesiones (40 %) and Episol SAS (60 %) won Pacific Connection highway concession 1 (Autopistas de la Prosperidad).

On 22 May 2014, ANI also awarded the Pacific Connection highway concession 2 to a consortium led by Grupo Odinsa S.A. after being the sole bidder for the project.