The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is targeting to start the tunneling works of the two 2.3-kilometer tunnel that will correspond to the central portion of the Davao City Bypass Construction Project.
Based on the Facebook post of Brosher Industrial Sales and Services, DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations Emil K. Sadain reported that tunneling works using specialized equipment such as drill jumbo, concrete spraying machine, and articulated dump hauler is targeted to start by first week of July 2021.
It also stated that four units of drill jumbo and four units of concrete spraying machine will simultaneously work at the north and south portal to complete two 2.3-kilometer long tunnels with a height of 8 meters and a width of 10 meters through the new Austrian tunneling method or sprayed concrete lining method.
The tunnel is part of Contract Package 1-1 covering 10.7-kilometer of four lane highway awarded in the amount of P13.230 billion to the joint venture companies of Shimizu Corporation, Ulticon Builders Inc., and Takenaka Civil Engineering and Construction Co, Ltd.
The contract for the initial civil works was signed on October 29, 2020 by DPWH and the joint venture of Shimizu Corporation, Ulticon Builders, Inc., and Takenaka Civil Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd.
The contract package with 37 months duration also covers the construction of bridges in three locations and a 7.9-kilometer long cut and fill road.
In an email interview with Kiyo Kawabuchi, senior representative for JICA in the Philippines, last year, he admitted that health-related restrictions have caused delays in procurement, among other factors.
“Lockdown measures and border controls which prevented the travel and movement of Japanese nationals to the Philippines at the early stages of the pandemic affected the timely processing of the contract for (the first package),” Kawabuchi said.
Nonetheless, he said JICA, DPWH, and the contractors and consultants are determined to fast-track the construction.
“Despite the challenges brought about by COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), JICA together with DPWH and other government agencies, the contractors and consultants, are all committed to work together to address the pandemic’s impacts and complete the project as soon as possible for the benefit of the Dabawenyos and the entire Mindanao,” he said.
Kawabuchi also said that it is expected that Japanese technology such as excavation techniques for tunnel construction will be applied for Filipino engineers and skilled workers to take advantage of acquiring technical knowledge and expertise in the building of the tunnel that will be the longest in the country once completed.
The bypass project is being funded under Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) through JICA, with the 34.830 billion yen (about P16 billion) loan agreement signed June 16, 2020.
The entire bypass road with a total length of 45.5 kilometers is divided into six packages: package I-1 (10.7 km), package I-2 (12.8 km), package I-3 (6.1 km), package II-1 (2.7 km), package II-2 (3.5 km), and package II-3 (9.7 km).
It will start from Davao-Digos section of the Pan-Philippine Highway in Brgy Sirawan, Davao City going to Davao-Panabo section of the Pan-Philippine Highway in Brgy J.P. Laurel, Panabo City,
The bypass road project aims to mitigate congestions in Davao City with the travel time of one hour and 44 minutes via Pan-Philippine Highway Diversion Road to be reduced into 49 minutes.
