More Edsa decongestion projects to be completed soon: DPWH

By Ferdinand Patinio

More big-ticket projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) particularly the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa) decongestion program are expected to be finished in the first month of the year.

According to Secretary Mark Villar, several undertakings that will help lessen or end traffic woes along the said major thoroughfare will soon be inaugurated.

“We can expect the bridges across Pasig river to follow, these are the big-ticket projects of EDSA decongestion,” he said in a video posted recently on his Facebook account.

Among the projects under the program was the 18-kilometer Skyway Stage 3 project which was partially opened on Dec. 29. It will be fully operational on Jan. 14.

Villar and San Miguel Corporation (SMC) president Ramon Ang led the event on Tuesday, where motorists were able to access the elevated expressway for free for a month.

The DPWH chief said the project, linking the northern and southern portion of Metro Manila will reduce the usual two-hour travel from the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX)s to only 30 minutes. Makati to Quezon City will only be 20 minutes away.

The Skyway Stage 3 is an 18-km. elevated expressway spanning from Buendia in Makati to Balintawak in Quezon City.

Early this year, two-big ticket projects under the Edsa decongestion masterplan was also completed: the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10, a 5.58 km, 6-lane divided elevated expressway utilizing the existing PNR railroad tracks connecting McArthur Highway, C-3 road in Caloocan and Malabon, and the NLEX Harbor Link R-10 Exit Ramp — a 2.6km, 4-lane elevated ramp which connects Caloocan, Malabon, and Valenzuela to Manila.

Villar added that the other projects that are expected to be finished soon are the BGC-Ortigas Link Bridge, the Pantaleon Estrella Bridge, the Binondo Intramuros Bridge, among others.

“The BGC bridge, Estrella-Pantaleon bridge will soon be finished. So in 2021, we assured that these big-ticket projects of President Duterte will be inaugurated,” he said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1126127

DOTR: PNR Clark rail project on track to be operational

The Department of Transportation said Thursday the Philippine National Railways Clark Phase 1 is on track to be operational by December this year.

It said PNR Clark Phase 1, or the Tutuban-Malolos line, had a 40.48-percent completion rate as of end-2020 and was scheduled to be partially operational by December 2021.

Phase 1 is a 38-kilometer rail line that will connect Tutuban, Manila to Malolos, Bulacan.. It is projected to reduce travel time from about 1 hour and 30 minutes to just 35 minutes.

The department said the construction of stations and viaducts were ongoing for Phase 1. Also ongoing is the installation of pre-cast segment of the girder.

The procedure includes molding and pre-stressing of segments on the fabrication yard, transport and lifting of precast segments, segment stitching and post-tensioning. This is carried out using a launching girder, winch system, span jack and pre-stressing jack and other heavy equipment.

The pre-cast segment, one of the main components of the rail line construction, is an engineering masterpiece designed and patterned after international railway construction guidelines.

The PNR Clark Phase 2 project, on the other hand, is a 53-km northern segment of the 147-km North-South Commuter Railway System, which will run from Clark in Pampanga to Calamba, Laguna.

The NSCR will have 37 stations, spanning 26 local government units and connecting three regions. The project will feature the country’s first airport express service, which will reduce slash travel time between Clark International Airport in Pampanga and Makati City from more than two hours by car to just under one hour.

The project is expected to be completed by 2024.

The civil works will help the Philippines’ economic revival as it will create about 24,000 local construction jobs in the next three years and 14,000 more jobs related to the railway system’s operations.

It will lead to larger, indirect employment and economic benefits to local businesses such as suppliers of raw materials, which in turn will create more jobs.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency, which is co-financing the project, will provide up to $2 billion in additional funding for the rolling stock and railway systems.

https://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/343372