The three-year construction of the 10.7-kilometer portion of the Davao City Bypass Road has received green light after its civil works contract was recently awarded to Shimizu-Ulticon-Takenaka.

Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar said that the joint venture group of Shimizu-Ulticon-Takenaka will undertake the construction of contract Package 1-1 covering 10.7 kilometers of the four-lane highway.

It will be implemented under a P13.230-billion fund. It will be constructed within 37 months or 1,110 calendar days, Villar added.

The bypass road is seen to ease congestion in Davao City, reducing travel time between Barangay Sirawan in Toril District and Barangay. J.P. Laurel in Panabo City which used to be an hour and 44 minutes via Pan-Philippine Highway Diversion Road.

Villar said once the Davao City Bypass Road is completed, travel time between the cities will be reduced to 49 minutes.

The project includes the construction of a 2.3-kilometer tunnel that will run through the mountainous barangays to shorten the drive from the Davao-Digos Intersection of Pan-Philippine Highway in Toril towards the intersection of the Davao-Agusan National Highway in Panabo City.

“It is expected that Japanese technology such as excavation techniques for tunnel construction will be applied and our Filipino engineers and skilled workers may take advantage of acquiring technical knowledge and expertise in the building of the tunnel that will be the longest in the country once completed,” DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain said.

The Davao City Bypass Construction Project will be funded by the Japanese Official Development Assistance signed last June providing the Philippines with a Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) Loan from JICA under Loan Agreement Nos. PH-P261 and PH-P273.

“Under the STEP loan that will promote transfer of outstanding Japanese technology and expertise, the main contract is Japan tied but allows a joint venture in addition to the Japanese company,” Villar said.

The entire bypass road with a total length of 45.5 kilometers is divided into six packages – I-1 (10.7 kms), I-2 (12.8 kms), I-3 (6.1 kms), II-1 (2.7 kms), II-2 (3.5 kms), and II-3 (9.7 kms).