The Philippines's Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is going to accelerate the construction of the twin-tube 2.3km- length and 10 m-diameter mountain road tunnel in the central portion of Davao City Bypass Construction Project which will ease traffic between Davao City and Panabo City. 

The tunnel will be the longest in the Philippines and it's an important component of the first package of the Davao City Bypass Construction Project. To optimize the construction schedule, the entire bypass road with a total length of 45.5 km costing PHP 46.8 bn is divided into 6 packages.  

The progress of the on-going tunnel civil works at the north portal at Barangay Waan covers tunnel excavation, shotcrete works for the excavation face, installation of steel ribs, wire mesh and final shotcrete. Drilling and installation of rockbolts will be carried out simultaneously at the northbound and southbound directions at 196-m and 237-m, respectively.  

Meanwhile, progress of the tunnelling from the opposite end at the south portal is at 264-m for the northbound direction and 203-m for the southbound direction. Other than the mountain road tunnel, contract package 1 costing PHP 13.230 bn was awarded to the Shimizu - Ulticon - Takenaka joint venture. This package involves the construction of the four-lane road with a length of 7.9 km,   3 bridges including the 200 m Davao River Bridge, 2 underpasses and 2 overpasses, 12 box culverts (waterways) and 4 at the grade intersection.  

Once completed in 2027, the bypass road will slash travel time between Toril, Davao City and the northern Panabo City, Davao Del Norte to under 49 minutes from the usual travel time of 1 hour and 44 minutes. For further information on the project click here and visit https://www.dpwh.gov.ph/. 44/22