COMSA is growing in Brazil with new infrastructure projects. As part of its internationalization efforts, the company began operations in the country in 2009 with a railway maintenance contract. Thanks to its high degree of specialization, over the last few years it has been awarded various important projects for the Brazilian railway system, the most recent as part of a consortium for phase two of Line 4 of the Sao Paulo Metro.
With contract totaling more than 235 million euros, the project covers the commissioning of four new stations, the construction of more than 2,000 meters of tunnel, and the construction of three emergency exit shafts, as the principal actions on this line that moves 1.7 million passengers a day.
The construction company also recently completed the doubling of the Boa Vista-Canguera line in the state of Sao Paulo, for 35 million euros. The work covered a total of 60 kilometers, distributed in three sections, and included the construction of viaducts, over and underpasses, earthmoving, and embankment treatment, among other work. The project was executed for ALL (América Latina Logística), one of Brazil’s leading logistics operators, with the goal of improving railway accesses for cargo transport from the interior of the country to the Santos port. It was also awarded a contract as part of a consortium for the doubling of various sections of the Carajás railway, in the state of Pará, for Vale do Rio Doce, the world’s second largest mining company, for 14 million euros.
The company has managed to diversify its business in Brazil and is currently executing projects for road and port works. Several months ago, COMSA began execution of its first road contract with the Doubling of the Régis Bittencourt tollway for the private operator ARTERIS in Serra de Cafezal. This project will widen the highway connection between Sao Paulo and Curitiba. The total cost of the work is 42 million euros. As part of a consortium, it is also carrying out the doubling of 10 kilometers of the SP-345 highway for ARTERIS, between the cities of Franca and Patrocinio Paulista in the north of the state of Sao Paulo, for a total of 16 million euros.
Backed by its extensive experience in geotechnical engineering, COMSA is in the process of completing a berthing dock in the shipyard in the Sao Jose do Norte port, in Rio Grande do Sul. Once completed, it will cover 40,000 square meters and will allow the later construction of oil rigs. The works are being executed as part of a consortium, for a total of 35 million euros.
Targeting the Bio&Pharma industry
The group also operates in Brazil through Bonaire, a company specialized in mechanical engineering with more than 60 years of experience in HVAC systems for the textile, pharmaceutical, and petrochemical industries. In recent years, the engineering firm has focused its efforts solidly on the Bio&Pharma industry, supported by the group’s extensive know-how in this area.
Some of its principal contracts in the Bio&Pharma industry currently include the HVAC of various cold rooms in Bayer’s phytopathology lab in Paulinia (Sao Paulo) and the installation of an HVAC system for Grifols in a clean room used for stem-cell research in the Hospital Albert Einstein in Sao Paulo. It is also installing the HVAC for an industrial plant owned by the Spanish company Viscofan in Sao Paulo, and a series of installations for the textile company Fiasul in Toledo (state of Paraná), among other projects.
Jaime Mulet, managing director of the group’s Infrastructure and Engineering division, said that “Brazil’s growing economic development offers business opportunities in the infrastructure area. In the short term, we expect to grow in this sector and expand our mechanical engineering activities in the country”.
Doubling the railway Boavista – Canguera (Brazil)