Brazil will finance the work with 52 million dollars, as reported in a meeting recently held in Brasilia between the Minister of Public Works of Bolivia, Édgar Montaño, and the Minister of Transportation of Brazil, Renán Filho.

Both ministers chaired the official ceremony at the headquarters of the Ministry of Transportation in Brasilia, which was attended by the mayor of Guayamerín, Ángel Maimura, and other Brazilian officials.

“This is a historic moment because the efforts of our people now with this bridge (…) make integration a reality. If it were not for Presidents Lucho (Luis Arce) and Lula (Luiz Inácio Da Silva), this important moment would not occur,” Montaño stated in his speech, and highlighted that Brazil optimized the characteristics of the viaduct in Guayaramerín intending to improve navigability conditions in the future, therefore it will have the same dimensions as the Abuná and the Rondón–Roosevelt bridges (19.5 meters high and 170 meters long), both in Brazilian territory.

The Minister praised the fact that “we can now say that (the Petropolis Treaty) is about to become effective thanks to our progressive governments.”

Montaño stated that this project is directly related to the Ichilo-Mamoré River Waterway, whose pre-investment bidding is already underway, which is why the Bolivian side insisted on implementing the works with the technical characteristics specified by Bolivia.

He also explained that the bridge will have two lanes, sidewalks over two-meter wide, so that motorcycle taxi drivers can circulate freely, and two-meter wide sidewalks in both directions.

For Bolivia, which has no access to the sea, this project is important, as it connects it with the Atlantic Ocean, strengthening its economy through the transportation of passengers and goods.

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