The Department of Public Works and Highways 11 (DPWH 11) bared on Thursday that the construction of Bucana Bridge, which is part of the Davao City Coastal Bypass Road Project, is targeted to start first quarter of next year.
Engineer Almario Monton, project manager of the Regional Management Office of DPWH 11, said in a virtual presser that this is likely as the final terms of reference for the consulting services have already been approved by the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) and the cost of the project is now ready for the signature of Undersecretary for technical services Maximo Carvajal.
“By the first quarter of next year, this project will start its detailed Design and construction because these terms of reference refer to the consulting services that will supervise the implementation of the project,” Monton said.
Monton said the bridge is targeted to be completed in 2025 from the original timeline of 2020 to 2023.
“The delay may be brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic that we are now facing. The original schedule is no longer feasible perhaps by the first quarter of next year we can start the project because Bucana is very important while the coastal road is almost completed,” he said.
The Davao City Coastal Bypass Road Project, with a total length of 18.21-km including the 540 linear meters and four-lanes Bucana Bridge will traverse from the area of Bago Aplaya, Brgy. Talomo, Punta Dumalag, Tulip Drive, Manuel Roxas Avenue to Sta. Ana Wharf Road and R. Castillo Street as the endpoint of the project alignment.
The project will function as diversion and bypass road and roadway grade separators or flyover for the existing road network that is already experiencing heavy traffic congestion problem and would also have broader or indirect road influence areas as they also function and caters to inter-provincial and regional transport movements and vehicular flows.
With a project cost of P28.265 billion wherein P3.11 billion is for Bucana Bridge through a China government grant, Davao Coastal Bypass Project is among the three projects that were approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee (ICC-CabCom) last December 20, 2019.
