In El Salvador, an historic transformation of the nation’s iconic Los Chorros Highway is underway to ensure its sustainability, circularity and resilience for decades to come, powered by Holcim’s building materials and solutions – from ECOPlanet and ECOPact to ECOCycle.
Los Chorros Highway is a major, 15-km long artery that runs east from Santa Tecla to San Juan Opico. The road passes through the breathtaking mountain passes of the Pan-American Highway, connecting people to the capital San Salvador and the west of the country.
The highway expansion is tackling two major challenges: firstly, significant safety risks due to unstable cliffs, extreme weather and seismic activity, and secondly, traffic jams that are bottlenecks to trade – both within El Salvador and with Guatemala to the north.
Largest infrastructure project in El Salvador’s history
25 custom concrete mix designs for pavements, drainage and structures
Highway is built for resilience in an earthquake-prone area with heavy rains
60 000 m3 of demolished pavement used to make new concrete with ECOCycle
254 000 m3 of ECOPact low-carbon concrete will be supplied
Holcim supplied cutting-edge slip-form paving machines to lay the new highway
The Vision
Every day, 60 000 commuters pass through the Los Chorros section of the Pan-American Highway – with its sharp curves, steep inclines and heavy freight traffic.
In recent years road traffic has significantly increased. At the same time, the Los Chorros canyon region has a dangerous history of rockfalls and landslides – which have caused many accidents in the past – and is vulnerable to seismic activity and heavy tropical rains.
The need for a safer, more modern highway was clear, which led El Salvador’s government to commission the nation’s largest infrastructure project, backed by a USD 373 million investment.
They wanted to create a model of modern infrastructure that would transform this challenging mountain highway into a sustainable, resilient and safe infrastructure corridor that supports the country’s strong urban growth and ambitious economic vision.
Korean construction company Dongbu Corporation was contracted to expand the existing highway from four to as many as eight lanes, build a colossal 850-meter viaduct, now named the “Francisco Morazán Viaduct”, and add bike paths and pedestrian sidewalks.
The Solutions
Because of the demanding technical and environmental standards of this iconic project, Dongbu chose Holcim to deliver innovative and sustainable building solutions, as well as comprehensive and integrated end-to-end solutions – backed by our strong on-the-ground expertise.
Working seamlessly with Dongbu onsite, Holcim has developed 25 customized, low-carbon concrete mix designs for the highway so far. These were engineered specifically for massive viaduct foundation castings, in-situ piles, and a slipped concrete for the viaduct’s piers.
We provided concrete pumping services and a cement spreader for base stabilization, and introduced three state-of-the-art slip-form paving machines. These are continuously laying down, consolidating and finishing a resilient, watertight road surface with crack-resistant joints – massively accelerating the construction timeline for this 400 000 m2 stretch of highway.
Given the critical importance of climate resilience in this landmark project, the new Los Chorros Highway also features advanced stormwater drainage, slope stabilization, sidewalks and bike pathways. Here again, Holcim supplied our high-value materials and solutions.
Holcim has already supplied over 160 000 m3 of ECOPact low-carbon concrete from plants in San Andrés and Santa Tecla for Los Chorros, with 254 000 m3 projected to be used in total.
To advance circular building, over 60 000 m3 of pavement from the old road has been removed, then recycled for use in new concrete for the highway, using our ECOCycle circular technology. This enabled Los Chorros to reduce its use of primary materials and minimize waste, as well as drive circularity.
Client perspective
“We partnered with Holcim because of its ability to contribute cutting edge end-to-end solutions designed to meet the highest standards of performance, efficiency, and sustainability.”
Hoseok Jung - Head of the Planning Team, Dongbu Corporation
The Icon
When it is finished in 2027, Los Chorros Highway will stand as a sustainable, circular and resilient infrastructure icon for a forward-looking El Salvador – radically improving people’s quality of life as they transit this part of the country – while significantly boosting regional trade.
As the leading partner for sustainable construction in El Salvador, Holcim is combining sustainability and innovation and technical expertise to ensure that major infrastructure in the country is engineered to stand the test of time, and build progress for people and the planet.
Holcim perspective
“Working closely with our client, we provided technical assistance and robust logistical support from our ready-mix plants for concrete supply and pumping equipment. We generated significant added value and strengthened our relationship, as a true strategic partner.”
Fernando Olivares - Head Of Infrastructure, Holcim El Salvador
Holcim perspective
“From advanced slope stabilization to high-strength concrete foundations designed to withstand seismic forces for a century, Holcim’s solutions aren't just helping us build a highway, they are anchoring the future of El Salvador’s mobility.”
David Cea - Technical Sales Consultant, Holcim El Salvador
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