Autopistas de la Montaña highway project in Colombia may require additional public funding to meet the project cost.

BN Americas quoted Colombia’s state-owned power company, ISA’s CEO Luis Fernando Alarcón as saying: "The internal generation of funds such as toll collections is not enough to cover the cost."

Alarcón said additional resources from national and local governments will be required, as well as the design of a development plan that prioritises investments.

Previously, ISA completed preliminary studies on the highway project which was estimated to cost COP15.6tn ($8.26bn).

The project involves the construction of a 760km highway, including 15 tunnels of 1km in length and 116 tunnels measuring less than 1km.

The project also includes 703 bridges spanning 64km, as well as the construction of two highways connecting Colombia’s Atlantic coast with the interior.

The construction of tunnels and bridges will take up half the cost, while 22% of the cost will be required for slope stabilisation.