COWI of Denmark signs up as advisor for CCLEX project

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Denmark’s COWI, together with DCCD Engineering Corporation of the Philippines, has been appointed as the Owner's Engineer and Technical Advisor on Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX).

The groundbreaking of the new eight-kilometer expressway link connecting Cebu City and Cordova town is set on Thursday with President Rodrigo Duterte expected to witness the event.

In a statement posted in its website, Mogens A. Hviid, Regional Manager South East Asia, COWI, said the new CCLEX will provide a much-needed additional route to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and further enhance economic growth and productivity in the Visayan region of the Philippines.

“The new Cebu-Cordova link will provide an effective short-cut from Cebu, the second largest city in the Philippines to the international airport reducing the car travel with approximately 40 minutes,” said Hviid in the statement.

The link is a public-private partnership project where COWI's client, Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC), will finance, design, construct and operate and maintain the new route under a 35-year concession agreement entered with the local governments of Cebu City and Cordova Municipality.

“It is envisioned to bolster trade activities, create more job opportunities and help reduce economic losses due to traffic congestion. Obviously, we are very proud to become part of such an important infrastructure project and we are looking forward to working closely with MPTDC to reach a high quality result, both in terms of timely delivery, value for money, sustainability and aesthetics,” he added.

The location of the new Cebu-Cordova link implicates a range of technical challenges such as a high risk of typhoons.

“To tackle the challenges we will draw on our experiences from previous projects in earthquake and typhoon zones such as the Busan-Geoje fixed link in South Korea, Stonecutters Bridge in Hong Kong and the Izmit Bay link in Turkey, which includes the world’s fourth longest suspension bridge,” said Tina Vejrum, Vice President for Bridges International, COWI.

MPTDC's plans for the onsite construction to start in 2017 – with project completion eyed by 2020.

The new Cebu-Cordova link will have two lanes in each direction and will feature the main navigation span bridge, along with viaduct approach bridges, a causeway, roadway and toll facilities. The span of the bridge allows for shipping traffic and the link is expected to serve at least 40,000 vehicles daily.

COWI is an international market leader in bridge engineering. A professional staff committed to finding innovative solutions helps to continue the company’s tradition for designing the world's most challenging bridges.

COWI has been involved in hundreds of bridge projects around the world, from some of the world’s longest road and rail spans to modest pedestrian crossings. Some of these are world-class suspension bridges such as the Great Belt East Bridge, Denmark and the Messina Bridge, Italy and equally challenging cable-stayed bridges such as the Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden, the Sutong Bridge in China, and the Stonecutters Bridge in Hong Kong.