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The government wants to auction more than 500 road bridges on B3 in 2026, in a package divided by states and regions. The strategy aims at recovering aging assets without toll charges and is expected to attract operators already active in the sector.
The federal government is preparing a package with more than 500 road bridges for auction on B3, in a new attempt to accelerate the recovery of aging assets in the road network. The initiative was announced by the Minister of Transport, George Santoro, and is expected to become one of the main bets of the department for 2026.
The idea is to divide the projects by state and region, into eight lots, creating a long-term portfolio for restoration and maintenance works. Although the model does not foresee toll charges, Santoro stated that the assets might interest operators already working in the road sector.
The move is noteworthy because it brings to the stock exchange an area that would normally be restricted to more traditional public contracts. Now, the management of these bridges is being designed in an auction format, with competition between companies and modeling designed for ten-year contracts.
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Auctions should use the Crema structure and ten-year contracts
According to agenciainfra.com, Santoro said that DNIT will use the Crema solution, the Contracting, Restoration, and Maintenance Program, as the basis for the project modeling. The proposal foresees contracts with a ten-year term, indicating a longer relationship between the public authority and the chosen operators.
In practice, the portfolio should combine structural recovery with continuous maintenance, rather than treating interventions as one-off works. The minister also stated that there will be compensation from the public budget, although the government does not classify the projects as PPPs.
This difference matters because it changes how the program will be presented to the market. Instead of a concession with tolls, the logic designed so far relies on public payment and the stability of longer contracts to enable the operation.
Portfolio should gather more than 500 assets spread across the country
The package mentioned by the Ministry of Transport gathers more than 500 bridges that need recovery. The division by states and regions into eight lots should serve to organize the competition and separate the assets into more manageable blocks for interested parties.
The government has not yet detailed which bridges will be included in the list nor what the prioritization criteria for each batch will be. Even so, the volume already signals the extent of the accumulated backlog in road infrastructure and the size of the department’s bet to tackle the problem in stages.
When presenting the portfolio, Santoro invited the road sector to study the models. The message was given at the opening of the Biennial of Highways 2026 – The Strength of Brazilian Regulation, an ABCR event, in Brasília.
Current operators may see opportunity in non-toll assets
One of the most sensitive points of the proposal is precisely the absence of toll charges. Even so, the minister assessed that the assets could be interesting for current operators, suggesting an interest in expanding the role of companies already accustomed to managing highways.
Without tolls, the model tends to rely more on the predictability of contracts and the flow of public resources. This could make the portfolio more attractive to groups already operating in the sector and looking to expand their presence in long-term maintenance and operation contracts.
The government, for now, has not detailed total values, the schedule of the batches, or the list of assets that will be included in the package. But the indication of taking this set to B3 already places the initiative among the most relevant on the road infrastructure agenda for the next year.
Infra S.A. also comes under government focus to reduce Treasury dependence
In the same speech, Santoro highlighted the financial trajectory of Infra S.A., the state company responsible for structuring projects for the department. According to him, there is an ongoing agenda for the company to stop depending on the Treasury within three years.
“Infra S.A. will have sufficient own revenue,” stated the minister, commenting on the agreement made with the company’s board and administration council. The statement indicates a demand for greater financial autonomy for the state company, at a time when the government wants to accelerate the structuring of infrastructure projects.
In addition to the bridge portfolio, Santoro also mentioned the department’s first federal PPP, aimed at the operation and maintenance of BR-319/AM, with environmental governance associated with the return of the highway. The set of statements shows that the government wants to expand the use of different models to tackle historical bottlenecks in the federal network.
Now, attention is focused on how DNIT will design the batches, which bridges will be included in the first round, and how the market will react to a non-toll package, but with long contracts and public payment. If the modeling progresses as expected, 2026 could mark a new phase for bridge recovery in the country. Comment and share this news with those following infrastructure and concessions in Brazil.
