The contract for the 500m tunnel is worth €5m (£4.3m) to Royal HaskoningDHV and is the first of its kind in Brazil.
The tunnel will provide a direct link between the cities of Santos and Guarujá and significantly reduce travels times for freight vehicles, which must currently make a detour of 50km when travelling to and from the port.
A bridge was ruled out because of the costs and an adverse impact on the city. Advice provided by the engineers was instrumental in the decision by the authorities in São Paulo to opt for an immersed tunnel.
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