Colombian Vice President Germán Vargas Lleras has inaugurated the first section of Ruta del Sol III, the third lot of a project involving Salini Impregilo. The project, valued at €816 million, is one of the most important highway projects in Colombia that will improve a crucial link between the country’s Atlantic coasts with the capital, Bogotá.

Vargas Lleras cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the 29-kilometre section of the motorway between the towns of Bosconia and Cuatro Vientos, in the northern department of Cesar at a ceremony held on October 27. Franco Ovalle, the department’s governor, and Claudio Lautizi, general manager international operations at Salini Impregilo, also attended.

The project, commissioned by the Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura, concerns the upgrading and construction of 465 kilometres of a motorway with emergency lanes. It is divided into two sections: the first between San Roque and La Ye de Ciénaga, and the second through Carmen de Bolivar, Bosconia and Valledupar.

Although work began in 2012, Salini Impregilo joined the project in 2015. Work is 32% complete.

Ruta del Sol III confirms Salini Impregilo’s leading role in modernizing the infrastructure of Colombia, a strategic market for the Group, which recently inaugurated the Sogamoso and El Quimbo hydroelectric plants.