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DPWH awards P13.23-B Davao City Bypass road contract to Japan firms


The Department of Public Works and Highways on Friday said it has awarded the civil works contract for the initial implementation of the Japan-funded Davao City Bypass Construction Project to a Japanese consortium.

In a statement, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said that the joint venture group of Shimizu -- Ulticon -- Takenaka will undertake the construction of contract package 1-1 of the project amounting to P13.230 billion.

The package covers 10.7 kilometers of four-lane highway inclusive of 2.3 kilometer tunnel for a period of 37 months or 1,110 calendar days.

“This bypass road will mitigate congestions in Davao City with the travel time between Brgy. Sirawan in Toril District and Brgy. J.P. Laurel in Panabo City of 1 hour and 44 minutes via Pan-Philippine Highway Diversion Road to be reduced into 49 minutes via Davao City Bypass,” Villar said.

The agreement between the Japanese joint venture and the DPWH by DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations and Technical Services Emil Sadain, Project Director Virgilio Castillo of DPWH UPMO Roads Management Cluster 1, and Makoto Fujii and Gil Manuel of Shimizu - Ulticon – Takenaka joint venture.

Sadain noted that the most significant component of the Davao City Bypass Project included in the awarded contract package is the 2.3 kilometer mountain tunnel that that will run through a mountainous barangay to shorten the drive from the Davao-Digos Intersection of the Pan Philippine Highway in Toril, Davao City toward the intersection of the Davao-Agusan National Highway in Panabo City.  

“It is expected that Japanese technology such as excavation techniques for tunnel construction will be applied and our Filipino engineers and skilled workers may take advantage of acquiring technical knowledge and expertise in the building of the tunnel that will be the longest in the country once completed,” Sadain said.

The project will be funded by the Japanese Official Development Assistance signed last June providing the Philippine government with a Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) Loan from JICA under Loan Agreement Nos. PH-P261 and PH-P273, according to the DPWH.

Under the STEP loan that will promote transfer of outstanding Japanese technology and expertise, the main contract is Japan tied but allows a joint venture in addition to the Japanese company.

Villar said that constructing the bypass road could be a driving force for economic growth in the entire Mindanao by connecting the port area to the southern end of the Davao City while avoiding the city center.

The entire bypass road with a total length of 45.5 kilometer is divided into six packages, namely package I-1 (10.7 kilometers), package I-2 (12.8 kilometers), package I-3 (6.1 kilometers), package II-1 (2.7 kilometers), package II-2 (3.5 kilometers), and package II-3 (9.7 kilometers). —LBG, GMA News

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