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Toll road operator NLEX Corp. engaged Leighton Asia- Philippines Branch to design and build the 5-kilometer third Candaba viaduct that is projected to cost P6.1 billion
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Works are set to start this first quarter and be completed in 2024, NLEX Corp says
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The third Candaba viaduct is expected to make travel safer and easier as it will have three lanes in each direction with inner and outer shoulders
Toll road operator NLEX Corp. has signed up Leighton Asia-Philippines Branch, a CIMIC Group company, to design and build the new five-kilometer third Candaba viaduct project, which is expected to cost P6.1 billion.
The agreement to undertake the project was signed on February 1 by NLEX Corp. president and general manager J. Luigi L. Bautista; NLEX chief finance officer Maria Theresa Wells; Leighton Asia Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia general manager Jan Torka; and Leighton Asia-Philippines Branch country manager and president Enrique Chuidian Jr.
“After a thorough bidding process and evaluation, we have awarded the project to Leighton Asia. We trust their knowledge and expertise when it comes to building safe and high-quality roads and bridges, having completed a lot of our major projects, with the NLEX Harbor Link as the most recent one,” Bautista said in a statement.
Situated between Pulilan, Bulacan, and Apalit, Pampanga along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), the Candaba Viaduct is a strategic expressway link on the Metro Manila and Central and North Luzon corridor for several years.
To enhance motorists’ safety and mobility, a new bridge will be built in the middle of the two existing viaducts, the toll road operator said.
Set to start first quarter, works on the project are expected to be completed in 2024. When it opens , the third Candaba viaduct is expected to make travel safer and easier as it expands the road from three lanes without a shoulder to three lanes with inner and outer shoulders in each direction.
“We are honoured to build on our long-term partnership with NLEX Corporation, whom we have worked for over two decades, to enhance the transportation network in the Philippines. We will apply Leighton Asia’s international expertise and local experience to ensure the safe and successful delivery of this project,” Torka said.
Aside from the third viaduct, NLEX Corp. continues to make viable engineering interventions to improve the capacity and serviceability of the existing Candaba viaduct. It is currently undertaking a major safety upgrade of the southbound portion of the viaduct to further ensure the safety of motorists.
Since August last year, all vehicles weighing 33 tons (12-wheelers and up) are temporarily not allowed to pass through the southbound portion of the Candaba Viaduct during the emergency safety upgrade and until a new viaduct is completed.
The toll road operator said the safety upgrade will ensure the integrity of the viaduct for the safe use by motorists.
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