By Lynda Myer
In order to advancing the digging process of the conveyance tunnel for the New Centennial Water Source – Kaliwa Dam Project, located in Lecha Province, the Philippines, the first double shield hard rock TBM, which has been named Jasmine after the Philippines’ national flower sampaguita and imported from China, has started its journey on 7th December. With cutter dimension of 4.8 m, the Intended TBM is totally 372 m long and its total weight is about 1,000 t.
Advancing the Design & Build Contract of the 21.495-km headrace tunnel and related ancillary works, was up to China Energy Engineering Group Ltd (CEEC). While length of the shield tunneling is around 17.5km, crossing 13 fault fracture areas, the date of holding the groundbreaking ceremony in Rizal Province was June 2021.
Being constructed under the cooperation framework between China and the Philippines, the Kaliwa Dam is a remarkable infrastructure project and it is one of the flagship projects under the Build, Build, Build program. The amount of daily water provision to adapt to the raised water needs of Manila and nearby provinces by diversion tunnel, and the 73-m-high concrete gravity dam is due to be up to 600,000 t.
As project owner and main responsible for the construction and management of the water supply and sewage system in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) secured all the necessary permits to build the PHP 12.2 billion Kaliwa Dam and have concluded a memorandum of agreement with the indigenous peoples (IPs) of Rizal and Quezon.
