Cebu toll bridge now 70% complete

CEBU CITY – The overall engineering, procurement, and construction works on the 8.5-kilometer Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) project are now 70% complete and the bridge is expected to open to motorists in 2022.

The 8.5-kilometer Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway project. (CCLEC photo)

Allan Alfon, President and General Manager of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway Corporation (CCLEC), said they have completed the casting of all 446 NU (Nebraska University) girders required for the entire stretch of CCLEX.

He said these girders, the first produced in the Philippines, serve as the main structural support for the road. The girders were installed using the mobile launching gantry at the Cebu South Coastal Road on the ramp and off-ramp sections of CCLEX, as well as on the Cebu viaduct, Cordova viaduct, and low-lying bridges on the causeway.

For the main bridge, the construction of the deck and installation of stay cables continues and only 152 meters remain before the main span is connected while 36 out of 56 cables are now installed, according to Alfon.

At the causeway, backfilling and placement of armor rocks are still ongoing, as well as laying of the 20 vent pipes, which are intended to equalize the flow of seawater in the Cordova Channel, he said.

Almost complete are the four low-lying bridges that will serve as access of the Cordova fishermen to their fishing ground. The eight 40-meter-tall crosses and its light fixture on top of the two CCLEX pylons spanning the Mactan Channel were also completed.

“Likewise finished is the 200-meter permanent pedestrian footbridge that starts near the U-turn slot of the South Road Properties (SRP) welcome tower. Sidewalks will be provided in the entire stretch of CCLEX,” Alfon said.

The CCLEX is a P30-billion toll bridge that will link mainland Cebu from the SRP in Cebu City to Mactan Island through Cordova. Set to be a new landmark in the country, CCLEX 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.

CCLEX has a design speed of 80 kph and a navigational clearance or height of 51 meters so as to allow large vessels to pass underneath the bridge. “Not only is CCLEX seen to reduce traffic and make traveling more convenient but also spur trade activities and open greater economic opportunities for Cebu and the rest of the Visayas region,” Alfon said.

CCLEX is a project of CCLEC in partnership with the local government units of Cebu City and Cordova. CCLEC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the toll road arm of publicly listed Metro Pacific Investments Corporation. (Carlo Lorenciana)

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