Rio de Janeiro - Niteroi Bridge

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In March 2015, the Brazilian company Ecorodovias Infraestrutura e Logistica S.A. (Grupo CR Almeida) won in a competitive bidding process the right to expand, rehabilitate and operate the 13.2 km bridge connecting the cities of Niteroi and Rio de Janeiro, state of Rio de Janeiro. The bridge was first awarded to a private concessionaire in 1995, and the contract concluded in May 2015. The bidding criteria was the lowest tariff, and Ecorodovias offered toll rates that were 36.67% below the ceiling set by the federal government. Five other groups took part in the bidding process: Consorcio Nova Guanabara, Consorcio Ponte, CS Brasil Transportes de Passageiros e Servicos Ambientais, Infra Bertin Participacoes and Triunfo Participacoes. The 30-year concession contract was signed in May 2015. The sponsors created the company Concessionaria Ponte Rio-Niteroi (Ecoponte) to lead the project. Operations commenced in June 2015. The investment was estimated at US$ 436.8 million (BRL 1.3 billion) over the life of the project. The sponsor agreed to invest in the improvement of the bridge and its access roads. The project was granted the right to take part in the government program called Regime Especial de Incentivos para o Desenvolvimento da Infra-Estrutura (Reidi). Companies selected to take part in this program were given tax cuts in the acquisition of capital equipment and construction material acquired both in the domestic and international markets (this incentive represented a cost reduction of about 9.25%). In addition, the company was allowed to use accelerated depreciation methods of accounting for construction expenditures.