Brazil – building the country of tomorrow

As a result of 40 years of little investment, Brazil still lags its Bric counterparts Russia, India and China in the quality and scale of its infrastructure, which in turn has restricted growth. However, Brazil is now undergoing the greatest building programme in the history of Latin America, with government investment in infrastructure targeting urban development and housing, roads and railways, ports and airports, and energy. The programme and the country itself offer attractive opportunities to civil engineers – and the nature of many of the projects calls for innovative engineering solutions. However, doing business in Brazil is not straightforward and interested parties must be prepared for differences in culture and ways of working. This paper identifies the key developments under way in major infrastructure areas. It then offers a pragmatic perspective on what engineers need to take into account to pursue the opportunities that the massive construction programme has to offer.