The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is now preparing the specialized equipment to work for the Davao twin tunnels, a key component of the 45.5 kilometer Davao City Bypass Road Project in Southern Mindanao.
Secretary Mark Villar said that the arrival of several equipment on-site in Davao City signals more intensified excavation activities in the next coming days for the tunnel’s north and south portal.
The entire Davao City Bypass Road Project that will begin in Barangay Sirawan, Toril, Davao City and will end at Barangay J.P. Laurel, Panabo City will improve the transport logistics in Davao Region, added Secretary Villar.
In his report to Secretary Villar, DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations Emil K. Sadain said that the first blast using drill machine to excavate two (2)-tube mountain tunnel is targetted by this early last quarter of 2021.
Our contractor is almost ready with their tunnel diggers as the DPWH UPMO team is looking forward to the commissioning of tunneling equipment to excavate the 2.3-kilometer mountain tunnel, Undersecretary Sadain reported following an on-site inspection and project coordination meeting with the contractors and consultants on Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021, in Davao City.
A demonstration run by the horizontal drilling machine at the north portal in Barangay Waan and a walk-thru at the south portal and equipment yard in Barangay Matina Biao was conducted during the inspection of Undersecretary Sadain with UPMO Roads Management Cluster 1 (RMC 1 – Bilateral) Project Director Benjamin A. Bautista, Project Manager Joselito B. Reyes, Engr. Earl Nicholas A. Rada, and Engr. Samuel Bayot.
The tunnel is part of the 10.7-kilometer four-lane highway under contract package 1-1 awarded to the joint venture companies of Shimizu Corporation, Ulticon Builders Inc., and Takenaka Civil Engineering & Construction Co, Ltd.
Implemented by DPWH UPMO RMC 1, the Davao City Bypass Road Project is under construction supervision service of consultancy firm Nippon Koei Co. Ltd. with Katahira Engineering Inc. and Nippon Engineering Consultant who are experts in several international tunneling projects like Japan.
A total of 56 pieces of equipment from Japan, France, and Korea are now available on-site that includes two (2) batching plants at the north and south portal, and several tunneling equipment such as horizontal boring machine and tools, twin header base machine/crawler excavator, twin header attachment, erecter with shotcrete machine, drill jumbo, and tunnel ventilation and dust collector, wheel loader, truck mixers, and water truck.
Other equipment and materials, delayed by the unprecedented disruption to international shipping caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, are expected to arrive on the tunnel site this last quarter.
The two (2) tunnels to be constructed using the new Austrian tunneling method or sprayed concrete lining method will have a height of eight (8) meters and a width of 10 meters located at the central portion of the bypass road project.
Aside from the twin tunnels, the contract package also covers the construction of bridges in three (3) locations (Matina 1, Matina 2, and Davao River) as well as a 7.9-kilometer four (4)-lane road, two (2) underpasses, two (2) overpasses, 12 box culverts for waterway, and four (4) at-grade intersection.
The road project is financed by the Official Development Assistance (ODA) of the Government of Japan with Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) Loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under Loan Agreement Nos. PH-P261 and PH-P273 were signed in June 2020.
As the project moves forward, DPWH plan to engage more local workforce and create job opportunities for the communities along the alignment added Undersecretary Sadain.
The project is also expected to develop Filipino engineers and skilled workers with the new technical know-how on tunneling. (DPWH) – bny
