Skip to main content

Philippines to rethink Laguna Expressway highways work

The Philippines might separate a 47km six-lane road construction element from a complicated land reclamation and dike development contract recently shunned by preferred bidders. None of the three qualified bidders for the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike public-private partnership deal submitted final bids for the contract. There were concerns over the legality of reclaiming 700 ha of land and whether investors could make money from it.
May 3, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

The Philippines might separate a 47km six-lane road construction element from a complicated land reclamation and dike development contract recently shunned by preferred bidders.

None of the three qualified bidders for the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike public-private partnership deal submitted final bids for the contract. There were concerns over the legality of reclaiming 700 ha of land and whether investors could make money from it.

The pre-qualified consortia were Trident Infrastructure and Development consortium – consisting of SM Prime Holdings, Megaworld, Ayala Land and Aboitiz Equity Ventures - the Alloy-PAVI LLEDP Consortium and San Miguel Holdings

Work was to have included 700 ha of coastal reclamation of Laguna de Bay from Taguig in Metro Manila to Calamba and Los Baños in Laguna, as well as associated bridges, pumping stations and ancillary flood gates.

The expressway was to have coast around $860 million, according to some estimates. It was expected to reduce travel time between Metro Manila and Laguna from 90 minutes to 35 minutes, and ease traffic and mitigate flooding between Taguig and Los Baños.

Bidding had been delayed several times due to environmental concerns, including how the project might displace local fishing boats from their harbours and fishing grounds.

Leading the review of the unwanted contract is the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Business World On-Line quoted Andre Palacios, executive director of the Public-Private-Partnership Center, saying the government department is rethinking which components of the discredited contract might go together. There is a possibility that the road work is hived off.

Related Content

  • Chinese investors eye Brazilian work, including federal highway BR-153
    January 14, 2016
    Chinese investors are reported to be negotiating a contract to work on a section of federal highway BR-153 that goes from Anapolis in the Brazilian state of Goias to Palmas,n in Tocantins. The road is part of the Transbrasiliana Highway. The section was originally awarded to Brazilian construction firm Galvao Engenharia in September 2014, but the company never started expansion works.
  • Philippines mega project for highway and bridge
    May 8, 2017
    Plans in the Philippines are being set out for a highway and bridge mega-project. The proposals call for a 388km highway from Northern Samar to Lucena, Quezon Province. The bridge would span the San Bernardino Strait and connect Allen in Northern Samar Province on Samar Island with Matnog on the Bicol Peninsula in Sorsogon Province. The new highway would also connect capital Manila with Albay, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte provinces as well as the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx). In all the work could cos
  • A6 project between Weinsberg and Wiesloch/Rauenberg set to start
    January 26, 2017
    Work will soon start on the €1.3 billion project to widen a stretch of the A6 motorway, one of Germany’s most congested highways. Both sides of the motorway between the Weinsberg and Wiesloch/Rauenberg junctions will be expanded. On 25 km of the section being expanded under the project – altogether 47.1 km – the number of lanes will be increased from four to six. The project also encompasses the construction of the 1.3km-long Neckartal Bridge. Preparatory work for the public-private partnership has
  • Spending plans for highway works in the Philippines
    May 14, 2021
    Spending plans has been revealed for key highway works in the Philippines.