São Paulo Signs $1.2B P3 for Brazil’s First Immersed Tunnel

The state of São Paulo introduced a public-private partnership with Portugal-based Mota-Engil to construct Brazil’s first immersed tunnel, launching building of a hard and fast hyperlink between the coastal cities of Santos and Guarujá and transferring a roughly $1.2 billion transportation megaproject into execution.

The Santos–Guarujá Tunnel, an 870-m underwater crossing beneath the port channel serving the Port of Santos, shall be delivered underneath a 30-year P3 overlaying design, building, operation and upkeep.

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“What was not possible and anticipated for 100 years, we’re going to make doable,” Rafael Benini, São Paulo’s secretary for funding partnerships, mentioned in an announcement following the signing. Benini mentioned the mission is now transferring into design, with building scheduled to start subsequent 12 months.

Beneath the contract, the tunnel will carry three lanes of site visitors in every course, with a devoted walkway for pedestrians and cyclists, plus a service gallery for utilities and methods. State officers estimate that the crossing will reduce journey time between Santos and Guarujá to lower than 5 minutes, in comparison with journeys of as much as an hour by street or ferry, which are sometimes affected by port site visitors and climate situations.

Immersed Tunnel Methodology Concentrates Marine Development Threat

Whereas immersed tunnels are widespread in Europe and Asia, they’re comparatively uncommon in the remainder of the world in comparison with bored tunnels or bridges. That is primarily as a result of complexity of marine building, with dangers associated to dredging precision, buoyancy management throughout immersion and the tolerances wanted to make sure watertight joints.

A mission map exhibits the deliberate alignment of the Santos–Guarujá immersed tunnel and method roads beneath the port channel linking the cities of Santos and Guarujá, together with connections to surrounding city and port infrastructure.

Map courtesy of the Authorities of São Paulo

State planners have mentioned the immersed tunnel method was chosen to avoid navigation conflicts, top restrictions and floor disruption {that a} bridge or bored tunnel would have created throughout the Port of Santos hall.

The Santos–Guarujá mission would require in depth dredging beneath an energetic transport channel, building of a dry dock for precasting large concrete components and tightly sequenced immersion and meeting operations coordinated with port exercise. The works shall be carried out beneath the entry channel to the Port of Santos, requiring coordination with ongoing vessel site visitors and port operations throughout building.

Beneath the delivery plan outlined by the state, the tunnel shall be constructed from a collection of huge reinforced-concrete components fabricated in a purpose-built dry dock, sealed and fitted out earlier than being floated into place, sunk right into a ready trench and linked underwater.

As soon as aligned, the weather shall be joined utilizing watertight seals, after which the construction shall be backfilled and guarded, locking in ultimate geometry earlier than inside methods set up begins.

Not like bored tunnels, the place alignment corrections could be made progressively, immersed tunnel set up permits restricted alternative for adjustment as soon as immersion is underway, inserting a premium on upfront engineering, marine surveying and building sequencing.

P3 Extends Engineering Focus Into Operations

Past structural works, the mission’s engineering scope extends into long-term operational methods embedded throughout the service gallery, together with air flow, drainage, fireplace and life-safety methods, energy and communications infrastructure and steady structural and environmental monitoring.

A rendering depicting the ingress to the tunnel that’s supposed to ease congestion and enhance freight and commuter mobility between the 2 cities.

Rendering courtesy of Bnamericas

As a result of the PPP bundles building with three a long time of operation and upkeep, officers mentioned methods shall be designed for sturdiness, entry and maintainability over the concession time period.

Mota-Engil gained the concession in a September 2025 public sale, providing a 0.5% low cost on the utmost annual public fee. The mission contains roughly $971 million in public contributions, break up evenly between the São Paulo state authorities and the federal authorities, in keeping with mission paperwork.

São Paulo Gov. Tarcísio de Freitas mentioned the signing marks a turning level for a mission that has stalled repeatedly over the previous century.

“The land connection between Santos and Guarujá is a dream that has been round for 100 years and is lastly changing into a actuality,” he mentioned in remarks launched by the state. He added that the tunnel is anticipated to be accomplished and open to site visitors in 2031.

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The mission has already obtained a preliminary environmental license from São Paulo state’s environmental company, Cetesb, and is transferring into detailed design and preparatory work. The overview assessed impacts on mangroves, wildlife, noise and required expropriations, and units situations to be addressed throughout subsequent licensing.

The state’s published execution schedule exhibits 2026 will deal with design and associated research, with building slated to start in 2027 with web site mobilization, dry dock building and preliminary dredging.

Precasting of the tunnel’s concrete components is deliberate for 2028, adopted by immersion and meeting in 2029. Techniques set up, testing and commissioning are scheduled for 2030 forward of economic operation the next 12 months.

The concession additionally contains street works in each Santos and Guarujá to combine the brand new crossing into dense city site visitors networks on both aspect of the channel, with oversight by São Paulo’s transportation regulatory company, Artesp.

State officers estimate the mission will generate about 9,000 direct and oblique jobs whereas easing congestion within the Baixada Santista area and bettering entry to port-related employment and logistics corridors.

Benini mentioned the following speedy step is to outline the concrete tunnel module fabrication web site. “The signing of the contract represents a decisive step towards reworking this mission into actuality, with direct beneficial properties for mobility, logistics and the standard of lifetime of the inhabitants,” he mentioned.