Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 9) — The tollway operator of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) on Thursday said it tapped CIMIC Group company Leighton Asia for the construction of a third elevated roadway crossing the Candaba swampland between Bulacan and Pampanga.
Under the deal, Leighton Asia’s local unit would focus on the design and construction of the new five-kilometer third Candaba viaduct.
The project cost is estimated at ₱6.1 billion, NLEX Corp. said in a statement.
J. Luigi Bautista, president and general manager of NLEX Corp., said it was awarded to Leighton Asia “after a thorough bidding process and evaluation.”
“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.
The Candaba viaduct strategically built between Pulilan, Bulacan, and Apalit, Pampanga has been linking Metro Manila and the Central and North Luzon corridor for years.
The third viaduct will be established in the middle of the two existing viaducts, the company noted.
Construction works on the project will start within the first quarter, while its completion is being eyed by next year.
The firm said the third viaduct would allow motorists to travel faster as it would be designed to “expand the road from three lanes without shoulder to three lanes with inner and outer shoulder in each direction.”
NLEX Corp. is a unit of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation, the toll road arm of the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation.
