The P30-billion Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) is now 61 percent complete in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
CCLEX links mainland Cebu from Cebu City to the Municipality of Cordova in Mactan Island.
The overall engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) progress of the project stands at 61 percent while construction progress is at 48 percent.
Already, the stay cables holding the bridge deck and the cross on top of the pylons, has been installed.
“CCLEX nears substantial completion in 2021," noted
Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corporation (CCLEC) President and General Manager Allan Alfon.
"Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, we continue working to complete the project next year for the benefit of the Cebuanos."
The main bridge’s two towers will have 14 stay cables in each side, or a total of 56 varying in length between 60 meters to 210 meters, anchored on the pylon and the deck.
On the other hand, the cross, which will be luminous on four sides at night once finished, is 40 meters in height.
The lighted cross symbolizes Cebu’s significant role as the cradle of Catholic devotion.
Aside from these installations, CCLEC is undertaking simultaneously work on other components and segments of the project.
These include concreting of the bridge deck and Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR) on ramp; construction of columns at CSCR off-ramp, Cebu viaduct, and Cordova viaduct; and piling works for the small bridges at the causeway to give fishermen access to their fishing ground.
Once completed, the expressway will have two lanes in each direction, providing a scenic passage to 50,000 vehicles daily and easing the traffic in the existing Marcelo Fernan Bridge and the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge.
It will likewise spur trade activities and open greater economic opportunities for Cebu and the rest of the Visayas region.
CCLEC, a subsidiary company of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), is undertaking the CCLEX project under a joint venture agreement with the local government units of Cebu City and Cordova.
Cebu Link Joint Venture (CLJV), the “Build and Design” contractor, is a consortium of Spanish company Acciona Construccion S.A. and Filipino companies First Balfour, and D. M. Consunji Inc.
CCLEC also engaged the services of COWI A/S of Denmark with the Philippines’ DCCD Engineering Corporation, as its sub-consultant, to be the project’s technical advisor/owner’s engineer.
Norconsult, a Norwegian consultancy firm, was also tapped as the project’s independent consultant.