The highway subsidiary of Vinci has taken over a 594km stretch of the motorway between Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia after agreeing a 30-year concession with the Brazilian National Land Transportation Agency.

The road, which connects the cities of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais, and Cristalina, in the state of Goias, is used by mining, industrial and agricultural producers to move their goods to Brazil’s southern ports.

Vinci Highways has trained 300 employees for the project, as well as opening a control centre, tolling systems and a roadside assistance service.

The project is being managed by subsidiary Via Cristais, formed when Vinci acquired a 55% stake in Brazilian road operator Entrevias in 2023. This subsidiary now operates almost 1,200km of highways in the country.

Vinci is planning to expand the road in a programme of works that will be completed by 2031.

Belen Marcos, Vinci Highways’ president, said: “The operational resumption of Via Cristais was carried out in an exemplary manner by our teams, who accomplished remarkable work.

“This commitment will remain our driving force for deploying our modernisation and expansion plan, with a dual objective: to improve the experience of drivers and support local economic dynamism.”