CEBU'S FIRST TOLL BRIDGE. Left photo shows one of the pylons of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway, the third bridge connecting Cebu City to Mactan Island in the municipality of Cordova. Right photo shows construction workers installing the stay cables anchoring the pylon and the deck of the PHP30-billion toll bridge project managed by the Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corporation, a subsidiary company of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC). (Photo courtesy of CCLEC)
CEBU CITY – The PHP30-billion toll bridge project connecting Mactan Island’s Cordova town to this capital city will spur more trade activities in the Central Visayas region, the bridge contractor said on Wednesday.
Set to be a new landmark in the country, Cebu’s first toll bridge is expected to open greater economic opportunities for Cebu and the rest of the Visayas region, according to the Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corporation (CCLEC), the firm managing the construction.
CCLEC president and general manager Allan Alfon said the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) is nearing substantial completion despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic’s negative impact on the local economic activities here.
“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,” Alfon said in the statement.
The CCLEC said the expressway stands at 48-percent construction progress while the overall engineering and procurement stages are now at 61 percent.
It said the installation of the toll bridge’s stay cables that will hold its deck and the installation of the cross on top of the CCLEX pylons, which will be one of the iconic features of the project, marked the significant development of the project.
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, it added.
The cross, which will become an imminent feature of the bridge as it will be luminous on four sides at night once finished, is 40 meters in height.
The statement said the lighted cross symbolizes Cebu’s significant role as the cradle of Catholic devotion.
It also cited other works that are also being simultaneously done on the other components and segments of the bridge project.
The builders are now working for the concreting of the bridge deck and Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR) on ramp.
Also ongoing are the construction of columns at CSCR off-ramp, Cebu viaduct, and Cordova viaduct as well as the piling works for the small bridges at the causeway that will serve as access for the fishermen to their fishing ground.
This expressway crossing the Mactan Channel 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,” the statement said.
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. (PNA)
