Interoceanic Highway
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The Interoceanic Highway or Trans-oceanic highway is an international, transcontinental highway in
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
and
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
that connects the two countries. It was completed in 2011, and runs east to west, spanning . It entailed the renovation and construction of roughly 2,600 kilometers of roads and 22 bridges. Completed in 2011, The project came into being via a 2004 agreement between
Alejandro Toledo Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, w ...
and
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...
, then the presidents of the two countries.


Construction

In Peru the project is known by the MTC ( Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones) as the Corredor Vial Interoceánico Sur Perú-Brasil (search for 'Corredor Vial Interoceánico') and by ProInversion (Private Investment Promotion Agency - Peru) as the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America, (Iniciativa para la Integración de la Infraestructura Regional Suramericana) (IIRSA), SUR axis. The project is part of a national road investment plan which involves the construction of three longitudinal highways, and 20 transversal highways. Parts of these transversal highways make up part of IIRSA SUR. As the project now links three Peruvian ports to Brazil, the route has several branches
map
. Furthermore, the construction of the various branches has been divided up into a number of stretches or sections, each of which has been constructed as part of a separate concession. Five concessions were constructed in two blocks: *block of concessions awarded in 2005: **2: Urcos (near
Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...
) - Inambari, Inambari District (in the
Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...
, near
Puerto Maldonado Puerto Maldonado () is a city in southeastern Peru in the Amazon rainforest west of the Bolivian border, located at the confluence of the Tambopata River, Tambopata and Madre de Dios River, Madre de Dios rivers. The latter river joins the Madeira ...
); 300 km of previously unpaved roads **3: Inambari - Iñapari, Iñapari District (on the Brazilian Border, opposite the Brazilian town of Assis Brasil); 403 km of previously unpaved roads **4: Azangaro - Inambari; 306 km of previously unpaved roads *block of concessions awarded in 2007: **1: San Juan de Marcona (Pacific Ocean) - Nazca - Abancay - Cusco – Urcos; 763 km of previously paved roads **5: branch 1 Matarani (Pacific Ocean) -
Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...
- Juliaca (near
Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...
) - Azangaro; and branch 2 Ilo (Pacific Ocean) -
Moquegua Moquegua (, founded by the Spanish colonists as Villa de Santa Catalina de Guadalcázar del Valle de Moquegua) is a city in southern Peru, located in the Department of Moquegua, of which it is the capital. It is also capital of Mariscal Nieto Prov ...
- Humajalso - Puente Gallatini - Puno - Juliaca; 752 km of previously paved roads and 62 km of previously unpaved roads The Brazilian section runs from the tri-border town of Assis Brasil to the intersection with the main Brazilian road network in Rio Branco, via the BR-317, in this case, the road leading to the Atlantic, being the BR-364, connecting
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
to elsewhere. The total project has an estimated cost of US$1.3 billion, but some analysts predict a higher cost. Of this, about US$810 million is for stretches 2 - 4, $199 million is for stretches 1 and 5, and the remainder for bridges, urban connections, and overhead. The project employed about 6,000 people during construction. It was inaugurated by Peruvian President Garcia in August 2011 and is now officially complete and operational.


Route

From Peru's Pacific Ocean coastline, it continues across the Andes mountains and through a large part of the
Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...
in the Peruvian department of Madre de Dios. After passing by the regionally important cities of
Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...
, Cobija and Rio Branco, it then travels into Northwestern Brazil where it connects with a network of existing highways to the Atlantic. it creates a connected highway from the Peruvian ports of San Juan de Marcona to the Brazilian city of Rio Branco its ZPE (Special Export Zone) and the rest of the country.


Andean watershed crossings

Two branches of the Interoceanic Highway cross the main Andean watershed. The Urcos - Inambari branch crosses the watershed approximatel
here
about 7 km (in a straight line) north-east of Urcos (the road distance is much longer). The Azangaro - Inambari branch crosses the watershed approximatel
here
about 85 km north of Azangaro.


Practical results

In 2017, it was found that the highway was practically not being used to trade. The average circulation was only seven commercial vehicles per hour, an extremely low average. According to the Peruvian authorities, there were basically no Brazilian products on the way to the ports in Peru. In 2020, official figures showed that, of the US$246 million exported or imported by Acre between 2009 and 2019, just over 18% were made by the road (about US$44.6 million was the value of the goods transacted by highway). This was largely because Acre had no direct road connection with the rest of Brazil. Although the BR-364 exists, there was no road bridge over the Madeira River, between the cities of Rio Branco and Porto Velho, Rondônia; the crossing of vehicles was made by ferries, which have low capacity and are expensive. However, the Abunã bridge was built and completed in 2021; As a result, Acre came out of road isolation and will develop in the coming years. Inaugurada a Ponte do Abunã
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Other Trans-Andean transport projects

There is an intention to build another route between
Paita Paita is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Paita Province which is in the Piura Region. It is a leading seaport in the region. Paita is located 1,089 km northwest of the country's capital Lima, and 57 km northwest of ...
and Yurimaguas, both in Peru, to give river access to the Amazon and Brazil.


Bibliography

* * * (search for 'Corredor Vial Interoceánico')


References

{{Authority control Highways in Brazil Roads in Peru Union of South American Nations Highways in São Paulo (state)