Cebu-Cordova toll bridge construction underway
Construction of the Cebu-Cordova toll bridge is underway in July as right-of-way (ROW) acquisition is almost complete, an official said.
Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway Corp (CCLEC) president and general manager Allan Alfon said ROW progress is now at 91 percent, an information also disclosed by its parent firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC) on Thursday.
"We committed to start actual construction come July 4," Alfon told The FREEMAN.
He said the company is still on the design stage for the project. "We're still on the design stage with some physical activity on site for bore holes testing purposes of samples," Alfon also noted.
Funding for the construction of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEx) had already been secured through a combination of equity and debt. MPIC, CCLEC's parent firm, noted CCLEx's project cost is P26.3 billion. MPIC had said its tollways arm Metro Pacific Tollways Corp (MPTC) will spend approximately P122.8 billion in the next five years on building highways and tollroads around the Philippines, including the 8.3-kilometer Cebu-Cordova toll bridge.
The Cebu Link Joint Venture (CLJV) is currently finishing the detailed engineering design for the project which is expected to be completed by May or June.
It has been issued the Notice of Award for the “Design and Build” contract of the 8.5-kilometer CCLEx, the much-anticipated bridge project that will connect Cebu City to the municipality of Cordova on Mactan Island.
CLJV is a joint venture of Spain-based Acciona Construccion S.A. and Philippine-based infrastructure companies First Balfour Inc., and publicly listed D.M. Consunji Inc. First Balfour is the construction subsidiary of listed First Philippine Holdings Corp.
CCLEx is the first of MPTC’s envisioned toll road expansion projects in Visayas and Mindanao.
CCLEC will build, operate and maintain the toll bridge through a joint venture agreement with the local governments of Cebu City and Cordova Municipality.
CCLEx 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.
The 8.25-kilometer toll bridge will connect Cebu City to Mactan Island via Cordova, envisioned to decongest the traffic in the two existing bridges (Marcelo Fernan Bridge and Mandaue Bridge) between Mactan and Cebu, due to the worsening traffic situation in the area. It is located around 7.5 kilometers south of Mandaue Bridge and will take off from the Cebu South Coastal Road crossing the Mactan channel to Mactan Island.