An official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) bared to Edge Davao that the construction for the Davao City Bypass Construction Project (DCBCP) Contract Package I-1 has incurred a negative slippage in its scheduled accomplishment.
In an email interview, DPWH Unified Project Management Office (DPWH UPMO) Roads Management Cluster I Engineer Divina Bulan cited contributors to the delays including the restriction of movement brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, Road Right-of-Way (RROW) acquisition, and unforeseen issues in tunnel construction.
Bulan explained that the project was implemented during the peak of the outbreak; hence, site operations were directly affected.
“Further, this project requires Japanese expatriates and special equipment as part of the loan agreement between the Government of Japan and the Philippines. Delay in their mobilization was also encountered,” she said.
Bulan said the RROW is a major challenge considering that the project is the construction of a new bypass road and to date, DPWH has already accessed 97% of the construction limits.
With regards to the unforeseen issues in tunnel construction, Bulan said this is due to the unstable ground condition of the tunnel which was not and cannot be determined during the project’s Detailed Engineering Design (DED) stage.
“As an effect, we have to provide supplementary technical solutions to address these concerns but impacts the usual and expected output of construction,” she said.
Based on the actual accomplishment of the project as of the August 31, 2024 report and as explained by Bulan, all monthly progress reports are generated every month as prescribed by the Department for seamless reporting, the project’s Contract Package I-1 overall accomplishment is at 52.721% that covers road activities, construction of three bridges, two overpasses, two underpasses, building facilities and tunnel construction.
The entire Contract Package I-1 involves the construction of a 10.7-kilometer two-lane carriageway for both northbound and southbound roads, divided by a median, from the Mintal Road Intersection to the Mandug Road Intersection. The package also includes three pairs of river bridges with a total length of 0.5 kilometers and two underpasses.
The DCBCP is a 45.5-kilometer bypass road that runs from Barangay Sirawan in Toril, Davao City to Barangay J.P. Laurel in Panabo City. Upon completion, the bypass road will cut the one-hour-and-44-minute-long land travel via Maharlika Highway to only 49 minutes.
