Atacama: Road Authority tenders the restoration of Route 30 at Cuesta Cardones

The Roads Directorate of the Atacama Region, under the Ministry of Public Works, has opened the public tender for the completion of works and restoration of Route 30, Stage II, Cuesta Cardones Sector, section DM 12,000 to DM 17,642, in the commune of Copiapó, province of Copiapó. The notice was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile No. 44,580, on Thursday, October 22, 2026, in Section IV, with the official reference CVE 2887646. Technical and economic bids will be received until November 24, 2026, at 10:00 AM, and the contract provides for an execution period of 360 calendar days.

The call is processed entirely online through the platform www.mercadopublico.cl, where the bidding terms and technical background are available. The process has been identified with Contract No. 427139 and Mercado Público ID No. 2011-18-O126, both of which bidders must include in their submissions.

The financing is sectoral, with a expenditure type corresponding to Works Contracting. The official budget of the contract was not published in the notice: the document states that it will be provided along with the bidding documents. The contracting modality is based on a Series of Unit Prices, with polynomial readjustment, and is classified as Road Infrastructure work, subtype Intensive Asphalt.

Scope of works

The project mainly comprises the implementation of road safety measures in the intervened section, as detailed in the official description of the call:

• Application of asphalt slurry seal.
• Horizontal road marking.
• Installation of vertical signage.
• Segregation of flexible markers in third lanes.
• Incorporation of photovoltaic lighting systems.

The intervention is concentrated in Stage II of the Cuesta Cardones sector, a section of 5.642 kilometers measured between DM 12,000 and DM 17,642, in the commune of Copiapó.

Process calendar

The notice sets a staggered schedule for the receipt and opening of documents:

• Deadline for inquiries: November 10, 2026.
• Deadline for responses: November 17, 2026.
• Closing for receipt of technical and economic bids: November 24, 2026, at 10:00 AM.
• Opening of technical bids: November 24, 2026, at 11:00 AM.
• Opening of economic bids: December 1, 2026, at 11:00 AM.

Requirements to participate

Interested parties must prove specific specialties in the contractors’ registry, according to the following requirement:

• Specialty 3 OC, Pavements, in Second category.
• Specialty 2 OC, Structural Concrete Works, in Third A category.

The notice was issued by the Regional Ministerial Secretariat of Public Works of the Atacama Region and appears signed in the edition of the Official Gazette directed by Giovanni Calderón Bassi.

The tender comes at a time when the road safety of Atacama’s interior roads is focusing public attention, and its resolution will define who executes the completion works of a key section for connectivity between Copiapó and the coast. With a deadline of 360 calendar days and a schedule that closes the receipt of bids on November 24, construction companies in the region have just over a month to prepare their technical and economic proposals.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,580, October 22, 2026, Section IV, p. 1 (official reference: CVE 2887646).