Figueiredo Ferraz is proud to have participated - since its foundation in the 1940s - in the dream of connecting the economic might of São Paulo city, high on its plateau, to the sea, 800 meters below, through the Atlantic rainforest.

Having designed viaducts for the Anchieta Route (1940s decade), Prof. Figueiredo Ferraz saw his company 30 years later develop the project for the ascending track of the Immigrants’ Highway. This innovative project revolutionized tunnel engineering in the country when it introduced, adapted and developed the NATM tunneling method.

Three decades later, Figueiredo Ferraz distinguished itself once again, developing Brazil’s boldest national roadway the Immigrants’ Highway descending route, a project that became an icon for engineering’s capacity to make possible huge projects within immense environmental restrictions due to the presence of rainforest preservation zones.

This project demonstrates that we can win the challenge of achieving economic and social development with environmental preservation.

The Pan-American Union of Engineering Associations (UPADI) awarded the “Pan-American Prize for Sustainable Development” to the project and the engineering work for the Immigrants’ Highway descending route through the mountains, in August of 2003.