The Ministry of Public WorksHousing and Mobility has reported this Friday that the draft of the second tunnel of Erjoswithin the construction works of the highway between Santiago del Teide and El Tanquewhich is part of the so-called Island Ring from Tenerife.
The regional executive explains in a statement that it is a high-capacity infrastructure, which will circumvent the entire island, allowing the structuring of road traffic at the island level, with a reduction in travel time by half.
The Erjos tunnel consists of two parallel tubes, with a length of approximately 4,855 meters, to which two false tunnels should be added -140 meters at the south mouth and 100 meters at the north mouth-, with a total length of 5. 1 kilometers.
The Canary Islands government says that it will be the longest road tunnel in the Canary Islands and the most important and largest road infrastructure developed by the regional executive, and the one with the greatest value at the national level, not only by volume of investment, but also by needs. social, economic and mobility that it covers.
The first draft took place on June 26, 2023, and this second, in the advance phase, on August 15.
The drilling, which has been carried out mainly by blasting, has been carried out in two phases with the aim of reducing the pressures transmitted by the ground in the process of stabilizing the vault: a first advance in the upper part and a second called destroy in the remaining part. Drilling is currently being carried out in the crushing phase, in the lower part.
To carry out this work, included in the highway agreement with the central government, a “significant” deployment of specialized operators and machinery has been designated to carry out the drilling, the statement states.
In addition, three work shifts have been established, seven days a week and 24 hours a day, employing more than 300 direct workers.
The investment budget of the project currently amounts to 256 million euros and the works were awarded in September 2019 to the temporary union of companies formed by FCC Construction, Syocsa-Inarsa and El Silbo.
More than 50% of the work has been completed, and it is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025.
The regional government highlights that the tender budget contemplates environmental measures, which will involve an investment of 18 million euros, consisting mainly of the recovery and consolidation of habitats of community interest, as well as the restoration of the La Grama and of the Bilma mountain, and the construction of an edge park that protects the center of Santiago del Teide.
