The Department of Public Works and Highways and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) have signed a P19.32-Billion official contract marking the green light for the design of the 3.98 kilometers Samal Island to Davao City Connector (SIDC) Project.
“We are more than excited to announce that with the signed contract, we can now apply for the loan agreement with the People’s Republic of China thru China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) to proceed with the detailed engineering design (DED) of the Samal Island to Davao City Connector Project,” Secretary Mark Villar said.
“Travel time of around 25,000 motorists will be reduced to only two to five minutes between Davao City in Davao del Sur and Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte.”
“Brighter future is ahead especially in tourism with the implementation of the toll-free four-lane bridge that will significantly improve mobility and bring down the travel time of around 25,000 daily motorists to only two to five minutes between Davao City in Davao del Sur and Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS) in Davao del Norte,” Villar added.
In a signing event held recently, the public works chief was represented by Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations Emil Sadain joined by DPWH UPMO Roads Management Cluster 2 Project Director Sharif Madsmo Hasim and Project Manager Soledad Florencio, while CRBC Authorized Representative and Branch General Manager Ren Xiaopeng with Marketing Manager Mo Haiyan represented the contractor.
Also present as witnesses were Counselor Jiang Jianjun and 3rd Secretary Xiang Chunnan of Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Philippines, while virtually participating in the event via zoom are CRBC Head Office President Du Fei, Director Hazel Baliatan and Assistant Director Joseph Capistrano of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and Department of Finance (DOF) technical representative John Narag.
“Once the DED for the SIDC is completed, CRBC will start the 54-month civil works stage of the project.”
According to Sadain, the CRBC which is one of the three shortlisted qualified contractors bagged the design and build contract of the SIDC following the procurement activities held in November and December 2020.
“Once the DED for the SIDC is completed, CRBC will start the 54-month civil works stage of the project,” he said.
The SIDC is a China-funded project envisioned as a modern bridge that will connect the Samal Circumferential Road in Barangay Limao, IGaCoS to Davao City in between R. Castillo-Daang Maharlika junction.
Its main span measures 250 meters and has a vertical navigation clearance of up to 47 meters crossing over Pakiputan strait. The bridge will also be supported by two pylons with a height of 73 meters.