CEBU, Philippines — Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is now almost halfway done with its P30-billion toll bridge project here and is on track for its completion by next year.
According to MPTC subsidiary Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corp. (CCLEC), overall project progress of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) is now at 49.85 percent after the completion of the substructure of the main bridge’s two towers.
CCLEX successfully conducted the lifting of the 400-ton form traveler for Towers 1 and 2. The form traveler will be used for bridge work and to build the pier table, which will sit atop each substructure.
Simultaneous activities at the project site are the concreting and construction of columns and piers for the bridge’s on-ramp and bored piling for the off-ramp alongside the Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR).
An onsite inspection of the 8.5-kilometer toll bridge was conducted on Thursday by top Cebu officials and MPTC executives.
CCLEC forged a partnership with the Cebu City government and Cordova municipality to develop the CCLEX.
“The Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway is our first huge infrastructure investment in the Visayas, and we intend to expand and strengthen our presence here,” Metro Pacific Investment Corp. president and CEO Jose Ma. Lim said.
Cordova Mayor Mary Therese Sitoy-Cho expects growth in her town and neighboring towns to accelerate when Cordova is connected to Cebu City.
The toll bridge project is expected to rise over the Mactan Channel, connecting mainland Cebu from Cebu City’s CSCR to Barangay Pilipog, Cordova in Mactan Island.
The expressway will have two lanes in each direction that will provide a safe, quick and scenic passage to an estimated 50,000 vehicles daily, easing the traffic in the existing Marcelo Fernan Bridge and the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge.
CCLEX has a design speed of 80 kilometers per hour and a navigational clearance or height of 51 meters so as to allow large vessels to pass underneath the bridge.
“This is MPTC’s biggest infrastructure project in the country, covering the construction of the CSCR on and off ramps, which will be built along the sides of the existing CSCR viaduct, main twin pylon cable-stayed bridge spanning the navigation path of Mactan Channel, a viaduct, toll plaza, and a causeway,” MPTC president and CEO Rodrigo Franco said.
CCLEX will feature a cross that will be luminous on four sides at night, as the cross highlights Cebu’s distinct role as the cradle of Christianity in the Phillipines.”
CLEX, as committed, is scheduled to be completed in 2021, in time for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Christianization of the Philippines.s
Once completed, the project is seen to reduce traffic and spur trade activities and open greater economic opportunities for Cebu and the rest of the Visayas region.