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Final stretch of the Northern Ring Road advances in São Paulo with tunnels, large viaducts, and works resumed after years of stoppage, in a stage considered central to completing the Mário Covas ring road in the Metropolitan Region.
The final stretch of the Northern Ring Road reached 68% completion, reported on Friday, May 5, 2026, by the São Paulo government, and entered a new phase of works to complete the Mário Covas ring road, designed to reorganize freight traffic in Greater São Paulo and reduce truck circulation on urban roads.
The ongoing connection will link the Fernão Dias Highway to Raimundo Pereira de Magalhães Avenue in São Paulo, closing the missing section between the segments already delivered and creating a new logistical alternative between strategic highways in the state.
With approximately 44 kilometers in length, the Northern Section passes through São Paulo, Guarulhos, and Arujá, with 107 special structures, including bridges and viaducts, as well as seven double tunnels, often described as 14 tunnels considering the two lanes.
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According to the concessionaire Via SP Serra, part of the Via Appia Group, total completion is expected for the second half of 2026, after the resumption of works on April 25, 2024, and the delivery of the first operational segment at the end of 2025.
Northern Ring Road will have 44 km and 14 tunnels in São Paulo
Due to the terrain configuration and the number of planned structures, the project involves the execution of tunnels, bridges, viaducts, containment, and work fronts in areas that require technical control to reduce risks to nearby communities.
In one of the excavation stages, 32,000 cubic meters of material were removed in a geologically complex area, a volume compared to 13 Olympic swimming pools, according to information released by the São Paulo government.
During this phase, the teams worked with continuous monitoring of the dismantling and managed to gather about 300 workers at the peak of activities, a procedure adopted to monitor structural safety in a section marked by years of interruption.
Among the techniques employed, plasma fragmentation was used to break rocks in a controlled manner, with less vibration compared to conventional dismantling methods and greater operational predictability in sensitive areas.
50-meter Viaduct Marks Final Section of Rodoanel Norte
In the construction front of the final section, one of the planned viaducts will have pillars up to 50 meters high, equivalent to a building with more than 15 floors and pointed out by the concessionaire as the largest structure of its kind in the North Section.
The beams of this viaduct needed to be redone after a long period of exposure during the interruption of works, which added a structural recovery stage before the continuation of services in the final section.
Started in 2013, the works on the North Section went through an interruption of about six years before resuming under the current concession, in a process that involved contractual reorganization, team mobilization, and review of priority fronts.
The first section delivered connects the Presidente Dutra Highway to Fernão Dias, between kilometers 129 and 153, with operation starting on December 23, 2025, as updated by Via Appia.
Rodoanel Mário Covas should change truck routes
With the completion of the remaining section, trucks should have a route outside the main roads, especially in movements related to the Port of Santos and the main highway corridors that cross the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo.
The work is part of the SP Pra Toda Obra, a state road modernization program that, in a balance of May 2026, accumulated R$ 144.6 billion in public and private investments and about 4,300 interventions planned or in execution.
In the same package are concessions, works by DER-SP, and long-term projects, including road interventions, duplications, pavements, road recoveries, and new connections planned to expand São Paulo’s logistical infrastructure.
Besides the Northern Rodoanel, the program includes the Santos-Guarujá Tunnel, a connection between the two municipalities of Baixada Santista with an estimated investment of R$ 6.8 billion, presented by the state government as a long-awaited work in the region.
The completion of the Northern Rodoanel corresponds to the last stage of a project started in 1998, when the implementation of the planned ring road began to divert part of the heavy traffic from the capital and connect the main highways that reach São Paulo.
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