THE CUTTER head of the first tunnel boring machine (TBM), dubbed "Kaunlaran" (Progress), for the country's first-ever underground railway system arrived on Friday, marking another milestone in the Department of Transportation's Metro Manila Subway project.
“This tunnel boring machine symbolizes its name, 'Kaunlaran.' Today, I ask you, join us in riding the tunnel boring machine and riding the country's first metro subway. Because ito ho ay paglakbay papunta sa kaunlaran (Because this is a journey towards progress),” DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade said during the arrival ceremony.
Weighing about 74 tons, the cutter head is the largest part of a TBM and is meant to break, cut, and grind rocks and soil using its rotating 36-piece disc cutter.
Within the month, more TBM equipment and materials will arrive in the country and eventually be transported at an undisclosed site for assembly followed by mandatory operational testing.
After testing, the TBM will be lowered to begin tunneling underground, with tunneling works for the partial operability phase of the project expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year.
Tugade said the project contractor, the joint venture of Shimizu-Fujita-Takenaka-EEI (SFTE), has committed to complete the partial operability phase of the project by December 2021 at the earliest, or by February 2022 at the latest.
Roberto Jose Castillo, president and CEO of EEI and representative of the SFTE, said the joint venture will have 6,000 direct hires as part of its commitment to deliver the project as scheduled.
“We commit to you, the best that we can do to try to finish this and make it partially operational as Secretary Tugade said, by December. And we will try our best,” Castillo said.
Aside from the 6,000 direct hires, an additional 24,000 indirect jobs will be created by the project’s suppliers, funders, and subcontractors.
“There will be about 24,000 people who will be benefited from this project. And once this is finished, the people of Metro Manila will benefit from the use of this infrastructure,” Castillo said.
The Metro Manila Subway will be the country’s first underground railway system, with its first phase stretching for 34 kilometers from Valenzuela City to Parañaque City, ending with a connection to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
The partial operability section of the subway’s first phase—which includes the construction of the depot and four stations from East Valenzuela to North Avenue—began construction in 2019. ((By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz)
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