Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa attended the joint site inspection organized by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on November 19 in Davao City to witness the start of tunnel boring activity for the 2.3-kilometer twin tunnels of the Davao City Bypass Road.

DPWH Secretary Roger Mercado and Build, Build, Build (BBB) Chief Implementer Undersecretary Emil Sadain joined Koshikawa and representatives of Japan’s leading tunnel construction companies in surveying the site, as the drill machines began excavation for the country’s first-ever long-distance mountain tunnel.

The twin tunnels are a key component of the 45.5-kilometer Davao City Bypass Construction Project in Southern Mindanao, which will begin in Barangay Sirawan, Toril, Davao City and end in Barangay J.P. Laurel, Panabo City.

Once completed, the tunnels will help reduce travel time from almost two hours via the Pan-Philippine Highway to just 49 minutes.

The project’s tunneling activity will use specialized equipment such as drill jumbo, concrete spraying machine and articulated dump hauler, which will work simultaneously at the north and south portals to construct the 2 tunnels with a height of 8 meters and a width of 10 meters.

The tunnel is part of Contract Package 1-1 covering 10.7-kilometer of a four-lane highway, which also includes the construction of 3 pairs of bridges, 2 underpasses, 2 overpasses, 4 at-grade intersections, and 12 box-culverts for drainage.

The Davao City Bypass Road is another quality infrastructure project financed by Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the Government of Japan with Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) Loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). JICC