Cebu-Cordova bridge done by 2021

CEBU, Philippines — By 2021, Cebu will have already been linked to Mactan Island by three bridges.

Construction of the third one, the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX), began yesterday with the formal kickoff of the piling works.

Officials of Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway Corp. (CCLEC), Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., and Metro Pacific Investment Corp. assured that the bridge will rise by 2021 in time for the celebration of 500th anniversary of the birth of Christianity in the country.

In the same year, the Philippines will also mark 500 years since Portuguese-born, Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the country.

Yesterday, Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Dennis Villarojo led the blessing of the construction works off the Shell Island where one tower of the bridge will be erected.

MPTC president and CEO Rodrigo Franco said the ground works start with the piling of cases on the seafloor for the bridge’s two towers – one to the side of Cebu City and another to the opposite side near Cordova.

After the piling, workers will bore a tunnel wherein cement will be poured into the pile cases. Once done, the contractor can immediately work on the foundation.

Franco said it would take over three months to finish the towers.

“Today is full blast na talaga na start of construction of the bridge,” he told reporters.

Civil works on the CCLEX project are undertaken by the Cebu Link Joint Venture, a consortium of Spain-based Acciona Construccion S. A. and Philippines-based First Balfour Inc. and D.M. Consunji Inc.

Features

CCLEC president and general manager Allan Alfon said the contractor will employ more advanced methodologies in building the CCLEX to meet its target completion.

The 8.25-kilometer bridge will have two lanes in each direction and will feature a main navigation span bridge, along with viaduct approach bridges, a causeway, roadway, and toll facilities.

It will give people from Cordova direct access to Cebu City and vice versa. It is envisioned to decongest traffic on the two existing bridges between Mactan and mainland Cebu, the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge and the Marcelo Fernan Bridge.

The third bridge will also feature on and off ramps to the Cebu City side through the Cebu South Coastal Road, which will be constructed alongside the existing viaduct, and will merge above to connect to the main bridge.

The main bridge will be a twin pylon cable-styled bridge with a span of 390 meters and a clearance of 51 meters. Both pylons will be 145 meters in height and will feature a lighted cross.

There will also be an eight-lane toll plaza and other toll facilities.

Speaking on behalf of business magnate Manny Pangilinan, Jose Ma. Lim, MPIC president and CEO, assured that the project will be completed on the agreed timeline, adding that the company took time to look for contractors that will undertake the project to ensure that they hire the best.

Lim said this is the first time MPIC, together with its affiliated companies, executed a bridge project with local government units since their previous projects were partnerships with the national government.

‘Investor paradise’

In his speech, Alfon said the completion of CCLEX will make Cordova town an “investor’s paradise.”

“Investors now are scanning potential investments that they can put in. I heard that there’s a big developer of industrial state there, real estate developers, both local and Manila, that are looking for properties,” he said.

Alfon said Cordova is now working closely with Department of Public Works and Highways for the widening of the town’s circumferential road and the Mactan circumferential road in anticipation of the heavy traffic that may usher in with the operation of the third link.

On the map, Cordova is part of the Mactan Island and has roads that lead to the heart of Lapu-Lapu City where Cebu’s only existing airport, the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, is located.

Cordova Mayor Mary Therese Sitoy-Cho, in her speech, agreed that the town has to prepare for a surge of investors, and the quick development that will go with it, following the completion of the bridge.

“That is why, as early as now, we in the municipal government, are already preparing our town for this development,” she said, citing measures such as road widening, implementing traffic code, among others.

Presidential Legislative Liaison Officer Secretary Adelino Sitoy reiterated his request to name the bridge in honor of the Sto. Niño.

But Alfon said the matter has yet to be decided by CCLEC, the Municipality of Cordova, and the City of Cebu.

For now, the bridge is called CCLEX.

Osmeña, for his part, said connecting Cordova to Cebu is a very strategic move, noting that Cordova has a huge potential area for attracting investments.

The mayor said the project will make an important development in both LGUs, as well as in the southern part of the province.

Sea traffic impact

Meanwhile, officials yesterday assured that the ongoing civil works will not affect navigation within the Cebu harbor.

Rodrigo Franco, president and chief executive officer of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., said they are coordinating with several government agencies like the Cebu Port Authority, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Maritime Industry Authority to ensure that sea traffic in the area will not be hampered by the ongoing construction works.

“There are protocols how the ships will be navigated even after the bridge is completed,” said Franco.

MPTCI is the firm undertaking the CCLEX project in partnership with the Cebu City government and the municipal government of Cordova under a public-private partnership agreement.

CCLEX project manager Robert Uthwatt said there will be no navigational disruption as maritime safety measures are in place now that the pipe laying has begun.

He further said that once construction of the bridge goes full blast, they may employ 1,500 to 2,000 workers.

In the meantime, less than a hundred people are doing the piling works. — JMD (FREEMAN)