Builders of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) have turned another corner in the construction of the PHP 30-billion toll bridge, even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, as the project’s progress stands at 61 percent.
Set to be a new landmark in the country, CCLEX will connect mainland Cebu from Cebu City to the Municipality of Cordova in Mactan Island.
The overall engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) progress of the project stands at 61% while construction progress alone is at 48%.
Marking this significant development is the installation of its stay cables that will hold the bridge deck and the installation of the cross on top of the CCLEX pylons, one of the iconic features of the project.
“CCLEX is set to be nearing substantial completion in 2021. Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, we commit to continue working hard towards completing the project next year for the benefit of the Cebuanos. It is something we look forward to, given the current conditions,” said Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corporation (CCLEC) president and general manager Allan Alfon.
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There will be 14 stay cables in each side of the main bridge’s two towers or a total of 56 that varies in length between 60 meters to 210 meters, all anchored on the pylon and the deck.
On the other hand, the cross, which will be luminous on four sides at night once finished, is 40 meters in height. The lighted cross symbolizes Cebu’s significant role as the cradle of Catholic devotion.
Aside from these installations, other works are also being simultaneously done on the other components and segments of the CCLEX project.
These include concreting of the bridge deck and Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR) on ramp; construction of columns at CSCR off-ramp, Cebu viaduct, and Cordova viaduct; and piling works for the small bridges at the causeway that will serve as access of the fishermen to their fishing ground.
Once completed, the expressway will have two lanes in each direction that will provide a safe, quick, and scenic passage to an estimated 50,000 vehicles daily, easing the traffic in the existing Marcelo Fernan Bridge and the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge.
It is also seen to spur trade activities and open greater economic opportunities for Cebu and the rest of the Visayas region.
CCLEC, a subsidiary company of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), is undertaking the CCLEX project under a joint venture agreement with the local government units of Cebu City and Cordova.
Cebu Link Joint Venture (CLJV) is the “Build and Design” contractor for the CCLEX project. CLJV is a consortium of Spanish company Acciona Construccion S.A. and Filipino companies First Balfour, and D. M. Consunji Inc.
CCLEC also engaged the services of COWI A/S of Denmark with the Philippines’ DCCD Engineering Corporation, as its sub-consultant, to be the project’s technical advisor/owner’s engineer. Norconsult, a Norwegian consultancy firm, was also tapped as the project’s independent consultant.