L-R: First Balfour president Anthony Fernandez and major projects division head Malcolm Lorimer with Acciona Agua Southeast Asia regional manager Carlos Cerezo, DMCI AVP Emmanuel Castro and PCA president Ronaldo Elepaño Jr.The Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) project won in the infrastructure category of the 3rd Philippine Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards (PECCA), First Balfour’s second consecutive win after the NBAQ4 project won in the same category and was hailed as overall winner last year.

Built by the Cebu Link Joint Venture composed of Acciona Construction Philippines, First Balfour and DMCI, the 8.9-kilometer bridge opened to traffic in April 2022 and now connects mainland Cebu to Mactan Island. During construction, CCLEX used over 185,000 cubic meters of concrete with concrete mix designs following the principles of sustainability, durability, timeliness and localization.

Organized by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Philippines chapter and the Philippine Constructors Association (PCA), PECCA aims to recognize excellent concrete projects in the country that highlight innovation and technology.

Judges for the infrastructure category were DATEM chairman and CEO Levy Espiritu, ACI executive vice president Ronald Burg and ACI director David Lange.

All entries were judged through a four-point scale system with four criteria: engineering, functionality/creativity, aesthetics/appearance and innovative use of concrete. Additionally, a project may also be crowned as overall winner.

EEI’s Exquadra Tower of Unioil in Ortigas bagged both overall and high-rise category awards. J.VAZ.CO took home three awards, winning the low-rise and horizontal work categories for their headquarters in Quezon City and the repair and restoration category for their driveway works at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. MDC’s Viento in Alabang was conferred the mid-rise award, while Megawide’s Sto. Niño Chapel in Cebu earned the award in decorative concrete.

ACI Philippines and PCA will send the winning entries to the ACI Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards happening in Boston, Massachusetts in October 2023.

(Story/Photos by:Kyrhen Angela Dimaandal)