Spanish infrastructure operator Sacyr has been awarded a €900m contract to complete, upgrade and maintain a dual carriageway between the Colombian city of Buga and its port of Buenaventura in the west of the country, Spanish newspaper Cinco Días reports.

The main outcomes will be a 128km multi-lane highway between the two cities and a smaller road of 116km.

The public-private partnership (PPP) was awarded by Colombia’s National Infrastructure Agency on Friday.

Work involves building two tunnels with a total length of 1.4km, and re-equipping 17 existing tunnels with a total length of 9.3km.

The concession also requires the rehabilitation of 15km of the Simón Bolívar road, the national pass through Buenaventura, and the construction of 35km of ancillary roads.

The project is intended to cut 30 minutes off travel times between the two centres. It is expected to take five years and will be followed by a 24-year maintenance period.

The budget for the works is €500m for the construction phase and €400m for the subsequent maintenance.