DPWH surpasses halfway point of 2.3-km mountain tunnel construction in Davao City
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced on Friday, June 16, that it has finished a total of 1.3 kilometers of tunnel civil works for the mountain tunnel component of the Davao City Bypass Construction Project.
*(Courtesy of DPWH)
* This means that the DPWH successfully surpassed the halfway point for the construction of the 2.3-km twin tube double-lane road mountain tunnel of the project. The mountain tunnel is considered as the “most crucial part” of the 45.5-km bypass construction project, which aims to establish the first ever long distance mountain tunnel in the Philippines. According to DPWH Senior Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain, work is being done on the north and south portals of the road mountain tunnel project in both the northbound and southbound directions using equipment and labor resources from the contractor Shimizu-Ulticon-Takenaka joint venture. Sadain noted that 625 and 676 meters of civil works have been completed in northbound and southbound directions of the north portal, respectively, while accomplishment at the south portal is at 678 meters in the northbound and 620 meters in the southbound. The ongoing tunnel works both in southbound and northbound directions demand tunnel excavation, shotcrete works for excavation face, installation of steel ribs, wiremesh, and final shotcrete, drilling and installation of rock bolts. The tunnel’s two ends in the north and south portal are targeted to break through by February 2024, according to Sadain. The on-going contract package 1-1 of the Davao City Bypass Construction Project is worth P13.23 billion. It was financed through the Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) Loan between the Government of the Philippines and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It is one of the infrastructure flagship projects that started under the previous Duterte administration's "Build Build Build" program and is being continued under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s "Build Better More" development agenda. The project aims to relieve traffic congestion and shorten travel time in Davao City from the current one hour and 45 minutes to 49 minutes via Maharlika Highway. (Nicole Magmanlac)