By Lynda Myer
Being located at the central portion of Davao City Bypass Construction Project, construction of the twin-tube 2.3km- length and 10 m-diameter mountain road tunnel have been started by the Philippines’s Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
As the longest tunnel in the Philippines, it is due to ease traffic between Davao City and Panabo City and considers as an important component of the first package of the Davao City Bypass Construction Project. Dividing the PHP 46.8 bn entire bypass road with a total length of 45.5 km into 6 packages is in order to optimizing the construction schedule.
Including tunnel excavation, shotcrete works for the excavation face, installation of steel ribs, as well as wire mesh and final shotcrete, the on-going tunnel civil works at the north portal at Barangay Waan are advancing, while drilling and installation of rockbolts will be carried out simultaneously at the northbound and southbound directions at 196-m and 237-m, respectively.
Additionally, at the opposite end progress of digging process at the south portal for the northbound direction and the southbound direction is respectively 264-m and 203-m. Also, in order to
constructing the four-lane road with a length of 7.9 km, 3 bridges including the 200 m Davao River Bridge, 2 underpasses and 2 overpasses, 12 box culverts (waterways) and 4 at the grade intersection, the contract package 1 costing PHP 13.230 bn was granted to the Shimizu – Ulticon – Takenaka joint venture.
While the determined date for completion of this project is 2027, this bypass road is slated to reduce travel time between Toril, Davao City and the northern Panabo City, Davao Del Norte to under 49 minutes from the usual travel time of 1 hour and 44 minutes. For further information on the project please visit this website.
