The environmental license from the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) to begin work on demolishing the Pedral do Lourenço (PA) on the Tocantins river waterway should be published in January 2025, according to the forecast of the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, and the National Waterway Transport Agency (Antaq).
Rockfall makes it possible to remove rocks from the bottom of a river in order to make navigation possible. Pedral do Lourenço is a rock formation located between Marabá (PA) and Tucuruí (PA), which impacts the navigability of the Tocantins-Araguaia basin.
The demolition work is the responsibility of the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (Dnit) and, in order to take place, it requires environmental licensing issued by Ibama.
The process is necessary to make the concession of the Tocantins River waterway viable, one of Antaq’s priorities. According to the general director of Antaq, Eduardo Nery, the concession notice for the Tocantins River waterway should be published in 2026.
“We are going to start the work on demolishing the Pedral that the minister [Silvio Costa Filho] he announced. The license will be obtained and the work will then begin. In parallel, we will carry out the concession process. Once the Pedral is destroyed, the concessionaire will immediately take over the operation of the waterway”, Nery told CNN.
In July, Antaq and the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) signed a cooperation agreement aimed at developing studies and projects to make waterway infrastructure viable in the country, especially on the Tapajós and Tocantins rivers.
According to Nery, the concession structuring project in partnership with BNDES should begin in January 2025. The estimate is that the development of waterways could mobilize investments of around R$4 billion.
