Dec 23, 2024
Improvement of Highway BR-163 in Central Mato Grosso, Brazil
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes, late last week inaugurated a 100-kilometer section of Highway BR-163 in central Mato Grosso that went from a 2-lane highway to a limited access 4-lane highway between the cities of Diamantino and Nova Mutum. Before the improvement, this 2-lane section of BR-163 was notorious for having the most fatal accidents due to the heavy flow of trucks and private vehicles. Since completion, this section of the highway has seen an 85% reduction in accidents.
The reason for the high accident rate is obvious if you look at the second picture that shows the highway during construction. Look at the three vehicles in the middle of the picture and the long line of trucks ahead of them. It is going to be very hard (and dangerous) for those vehicles to pass all those trucks, hence the high rate of accidents.
Newley inaugurated 100-kilometer section of Highway BR-163 in central Mato Grosso. The lack of growing crops or standing water indicates that the photo was probably taken during the dry season. Photo courtesy of So Noticias.
Highway BR-163 under construction in central Mato Grosso. On the right side is a eucalyptus plantation and the left side is probably safrinha corn. Photo courtesy of So Noticias.
Virtually all the trucks in these pictures are transporting soybeans or corn to either a rail terminal in Rondonopolis, Mato Grosso or to the Ports of Santos or Paranagua in southeastern Brazil. Further north in Mato Grosso, the trucks transport grain to the Northern Arc of ports on the Amazon River.
If you look at the truck at the bottom of the second picture, you see it has two trailers, which is typical in Brazil especially if it is traveling long distances. The distance from Diamantino to the port of Santarem on the Amazon River is 1,658 kilometers. The distance from Diamantino to the Port of Santos in southeastern Brazil is 1,784 kilometers.
Diamantino, Mato Grosso to Port of Santarem - 1,658 kilometers.
Diamantino, Mato Grosso to Port of Santos - 1,784 kilometers.