P30B Cebu-Cordova bridge now connected, opens Q1 2022

New landmark bridge nearing completion

Yesterday was a milestone in terms of road construction projects here in the country as the final 2 meters of the suspended bridge of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) have been finally connected.

“We have achieved a major construction feat when the two-meter gap that had separated main bridge deck of Tower 1 from the bridge deck of Tower 2 became one; thanks to a special joint concreting engineering procedure done over the waters of the Mactan Channel, and linking two economies with a lot of promise – Cebu City and the Municipality of Cordova,” said Rodrigo Franco, Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) president, who was in Cebu to witness the event.

CCLEX is the P30-billion undertaking of MPTC and is its first toll road project outside Luzon. CCLEX is being implemented by MPTC subsidiary, Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corporation, in partnership with the local government units of Cebu City and Municipality of Cordova.

CCLEX is the third link to Mactan Island from Cordova to mainland Cebu through Cebu City’s South Road Properties. It was designed to support vehicles travelling at 60 to 80 kilometers per hour (kph) and is built with a navigational clearance or height of 51 meters, or about the same height as a 16-story building, to allow large vessels to pass safely underneath the bridge. If all goes according to plan, CCLEX will be open to Cebu motorists as early as Q1 of next year.

Main Bridge Features

CCLEX’s bridge structure is almost 2.8 kilometers long, consisting of the main bridge structure (653 meters), the Cebu South Coastal Road on and off-ramps (779 meters), Cebu Viaduct (432.80 meters), and the Cordova Viaduct (917.30 meters). Its two main bridge towers are 145 meters tall.

All in all, the CCLEX is an 8.9-kilometer tollway – the first outside of Luzon – that will connect Mactan Island to Cebu’s mainland. The upcoming tollway will use a full-electronic toll collection system.

Additionally, the CCLEX’s main bridge is fitted with several state-of-the-art equipment, which includes a Road Weather Information System that provides weather updates and provides warnings for public safety; stay cable accelerometers to monitor stay cable movements; GPS geometric controls at the two towers; and expansion joint movement sensors.

The main bridge’s two towers are “vessel collision-proof,” while its back spans are equipped with multi-directional bearings, six on the Cordova side and six on the Cebu City side. These are energy-absorbing equipment to ensure the structural safety and stability of the bridge during earthquakes.