The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has started the civil works for the P19-billion Samal Island-Davao City Connector (SIDC) project which is targeted to be operational before the end of the Marcos administration.
As of April 26, the progress of the project’s detailed engineering design (DED) phase is at 93 percent, while the overall actual completion rate is at 3.5 percent.
Emil Sadain, DPWH senior undersecretary, said in a statement the project is proceeding with the construction phase in both the Davao and Samal side with the commencement of bored piling activities to ensure the stability of the bridge structure.
With the approval of the DED plans for land and marine viaducts and navigation bridge, the DPWH Unified Project Management Office-Bridges Management Cluster, with its design-and-build contractor China Road and Bridge Corp., has also started to work on the steel bridge crane way that shall provide access for the construction activities, said Sadain.
The SIDC project is a four-lane bridge with ramps tapping into the R. Castillo-Daang Maharlika junction in Davao City, and a 24-meter-wide at-grade road and roundabout at Barangay Limao along Samal Circumferential Road, IGaCoS.
In a related development, construction works for the P3.13-billion Davao River (Bucana) Bridge in Davao City is currently 15.7 percent complete since the civil works activities started last November.
The 1.34-kilometer project, funded by the Philippine government and China aid grant, is an integral part of the Davao City Coastal Bypass Road traversing from Roxas avenue to Bago Aplaya.
Scheduled for completion by November 2025, Bucana Bridge will enhance connectivity, improve transportation networks and bolster economic development opportunities in Southern Mindanao, DPWH said.
