Pulilan, Bulacan — The North Luzon Expressway Corporation on Wednesday announced that the construction of the third Candaba Viaduct at NLEX is now at 30.58 percent complete.

NLEX Corporation president Luigi Bautista stressed that the company is right on target in completing the project by November this year as long as there is proper funding.

He added that they have signed a loan agreement with the Bank of the Philippine Islands for P10 billion wherein it will be allotted for the project. Based on the pre-approval of the Toll Regulatory Board, the initial cost was P8 billion.

The 5.3-kilometer Third Candaba Viaduct is currently being constructed between the first two Candaba Viaducts found at the NLEX from the town of Pulilan in Bulacan up to the town of Apalit in Pampanga.

It will be as long as the first two viaducts that are already 50 years old, both of which were constructed between 1974 to 1977.

To assure the continuous construction, TRB executive director Alvin Carullo said that 170 of the 198 families living under or near the Candaba Viaduct have already been relocated. The NLEX Corporation has already granted P9.3 million in financial assistance to the said families.

Carullo added that the project should not be hindered since the third viaduct will support the two older viaducts, providing safety to motorists traveling to and from Central Luzon and Manila.

The Third Candaba Viaduct will support the two older viaducts by connecting both with three lines each from both sides, inclusive of a road shoulder to the right. Currently, despite having three lines, the new viaduct does not have road shoulders that can be utilized by motorists for emergency situations.

The contractor for the Third Candaba Viaduct is the Australian project development and contracting group Leighton Asia, the same company who modernized the NLEX in 2002 up to 2005.

Aside from the construction of the Third Candaba Viaduct, the TRB has already approved the retrofitting of the two older viaducts.

There are 38 link slabs or connectors and floors on the said viaducts that were replace with new girders that have a height of 1,300 millimeters and a width of 1,000 millimeters.