Marc Chassande: “The construction of the New Central Highway is a source of pride for France”

The basic cost of the New Central Highway – Daniel Alcides Carriónwhich will be completed by France one hundred years after the first stone was laid, has been updated to S/22,000 million.

Marc Chassande, project manager at PMO Vías, reveals details about the new line set to connect Lima and La Oroya in less than 2 and a half hours, for light vehicles, and 3 and a half hours, for heavy vehicles. Megaobra, with technology never seen before in our country, will be ready in 2031.

How do you receive the approval of the final file of the Review of the Profile of the New Central Highway, by MTC?

It is an important milestone that marks the end of a year of work on stage 2 of Phase 1, which is the profile review. This was submitted in May and we have had several rounds of reviews to be able to see the file. It allows us, now, to start Phase 2, which is the EDI, before reaching Phase 3, which will be the construction of the work itself, starting in 2025.

In what month of 2025 will the works begin as such?

The first works contract signatures are scheduled for April 2025. It is a month that we have planned here, but in 2025 yes or yes the first work contracts will be signed.

I understand that what has been approved still does not define exactly what the outline will be.

Yes of course. It’s a profile. What we had under the scope of the PMO Vías contract -as part of the G2G contract with France- was a first phase, which was a review of the profile. So we have updated the existing stroke.

We have done a multi-criteria analysis with 11 different traces, with various brokers. That was the first stage of Phase 1, which culminated in July 2022, with the approval of the Green Corridor, where we have a line that has been improved in stage 2. Now there is Phase 2, which is the EDI with the official line .

The approval of the profile of the New Central Highway is late, Minister Lazarte announced it for June. Were there observations?

Yes of course. The MTC, through Provías Nacional -which owns the project-, receives our file and can issue observations or recommendations.

We have had several rounds to correct some doubts that may remain, or improve some points. It is a job we have been doing since August, but there is always something to improve. It is a normal phase to approve, it will not be approved from one day to the next. It is normal for there to be a review phase.

New Central Highway: S/22,000 million investment

Now, MTC ensures that only in 2025 will there be not only the final outline, but also the updated investment amount. Before it was around S / 11,900 million, how much is handled today?

There is an estimate that was made in 2018 on a line of Proinversión that had shortcomings. Not at all, of course. We have recovered some parts of the original line and there is a cost that must be honest.

First, we must say that, between 2018 and 2023, several world events have occurred: there is inflation, for example, of more than 25%. These are INEI data for inflation in material costs. So, we already have a higher cost due to inflation of material costs only.

Later, we now have a ‘first class’ highway, that is, with security systems, ventilation, environmental measures, protection of water resources, protection against mudslides and all that.

A first-class quality motorway costs, and if the prices are honest, it is more or less what Minister Lazarte said in May: approximately double what the initial investment was.

[El costo base que PMO Vías espera para la Nueva Carretera Central, según informó a La República, asciende a S/22.000 millones, sujeto a variaciones].

And from now to 2025 could it increase again?

Let’s see, it’s a profile study, so it’s still an estimate. However, the particularity of this trace is that we have done another type of study.

We work with framework agreements; we have done geotechnical, topography, traffic and environmental studies, and we also have first-hand field data. We have drilled more than 3 kilometers and then with all this data we have a robust layout, metering and costs. That allows us, at this level, to make sure that the cost of the work is realistic.

Of course, there is still risk because the definitive studies have not been completed, and the investment may be a little more or a little less. The risks are going to be evaluated and what EDI seeks is to optimize even more to lower costs, therein lies its importance.

[Gracias a este sinceramiento de costos, PMO Vías aclaró que, aún cuando la cotización de los materiales pueda volver a elevarse, bajo ningún término se volvería a duplicar, a diferencia de “lo que ya conocemos en el Perú”].

Changes in the layout of the New Central Highway

What changes have been made to the layout of the New Central Highway, compared to the original project?

As it is a line under study, there have been modifications that we have tried to work on also according to the reports that we have also had in the field work, with more data, more optimizations.

The most important change has occurred in the Ate area, where we have modified the layout quite a bit to avoid urban impacts and property damage. Now, we leave an area very close to Rímac and connect directly to the existing Ramiro Prialé.

The line of Proinversión was connected further up the Rímac valley, but in the Ramiro Prialé that does not exist today due to property problems.

So, we are connected, now, to a highway that exists, that works and this is where we have modified the layout of Ate to avoid affectations. Of course, in Cieneguilla we have also modified the layout a bit to avoid these problems.

And what will be done throughout 2024?

We have all the environmental reports that began in February 2022, so we now have to present the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) with all the mitigation, reduction and compensation measures for the impacts.

We will also have all the property studies in detail, the prediagnostic profile, and a more important diagnosis with a definitive outline.

Finally, we will also have the engineering studies, the calculation of the structure in detail, the calculation of works, as well as the meters and road studies even more detailed than those contained in a profile.

Now, there was also talk that there were up to 5 interested companies for the second phase.

Yes, we have had a bidding process for this second phase of EDI, a completely transparent and international process on the selection of consortia of companies. They are very good firms with world references, famous architects too.

At the beginning, we had more than 15 international and national consortia interested. 5 were selected, a short list. Of these, the consortium that is chosen will be the one that will carry out Phase 2, with the definitive studies until having the final outline in 2024.

[En una entrevista previa de mayo, la titular de PMO Vías, Silmara de Assís, reveló que, de los 5 consorcios uno es japonés-inglés, otro español-americano y uno más colombiano].

Marc Chassande: “Consensus for the New Central Highway”

Has PMO Vías encountered any resistance from the regional governments involved in the New Central Highway route?

No, none. I think the important fact about this project is that it is started by everyone. We have very good relations, we inform, we hold public events. For example, in Huancayo we recently held an event in Oxapampa; also in Lima, of course, in Huarochirí.

We know that the regional governments are supporting the project because it is important to them. They are approximately S/2,000 million that the Central Macroregion is losing every year due to the problems of the current Central Highway. We have also held an event with the governors of Lima to present our project to the communities in the area and we have total support, I believe.

That by regional governments. And from the neighbors? Not long ago a protest took place, in Santa Clara, for an alleged destruction of homes and public areas.

The MTC has been quite clear in the publication of the information press release. There will be no expropriations of schools, markets or parks. That’s clear. We always try to do a project that avoids as many infections as possible.

We minimize property damages, but of course there are. A project does not go through the clouds. But there is a whole regulation to acquire the properties at the right price and have compensation for those affected. It is not an expropriation, it is an acquisition. Expropriation is the last resort, but there are no expropriations without compensation, too.

And what do you plan to buy? Homes, parks?

There are some economic activities, for example, truck parks that are in the area, but they are land for storage, such as warehouses. There will be some houses, of course, we cannot do a project without having acquisitions, but they are very few.

Finally, how does the Government of France receive the commission for the New Central Highway, after 100 years in which Peru has not been able to finish it?

It is a pride for all of us who are here. Our only interest as a team representing two French companies, EGIS and SETEC, is to carry out the best project and fulfill its operation in 2031. It is an important 10-year agreement.

So, we are very proud to assist the Peruvian State, and we want to contribute with the best of French engineering, which has carried out thousands of infrastructure projects in the world, to achieve this project of great magnitude, never seen before in the history of Peru.