The PHP19.3 billion Samal Island-Davao City Connector (SIDC) project is on track for completion by September 2028, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 11 (Davao).

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Dean Ortiz, DPWH-11 spokesperson, announced during a press briefing on Wednesday that as of November 25, the project has achieved an overall completion rate of 6.45 percent.

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Civil works are 3.51 percent complete, while the detailed engineering design (DED) is 97.97 percent finished.

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“As of November 5, 2024, all remaining DED plans have been approved,” Ortiz stated.

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Significant progress has been made in bored piling works, which began on May 1 this year. On the Samal Island side, all 74 bored piles for the land viaduct are 100 percent complete. On the Davao City side, 46.36 percent (51 out of 110) of the bored piles have been finished. Pile cap construction on the Davao City side started on September 12, 2024.

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Ortiz also highlighted that 15.38 percent (four out of 26) of the land viaduct substructure has been completed. In Barangay Limao on Samal Island, road-right-of-way issues have been resolved, with all 10 affected properties settled and expropriated.

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In Davao City, negotiations are underway for 52 properties. Of these, 36 have been paid, while the remaining 16 are still being processed. DPWH aims to finalize all claims by the first quarter of 2025.

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The SIDC bridge will span 3.9 kilometers as a four-lane cable-stayed structure, connecting Davao City and the Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) over the Pakiputan Strait. It will have a vertical navigational clearance of 47 meters and land at the R. Castillo-Daang Maharlika junction in Davao City and the Samal Circumferential Road in Barangay Limao.

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Once operational, the bridge is expected to accommodate up to 25,000 vehicles daily, reducing travel time between Davao City and Samal from 30 minutes via ferry to just five minutes.