Biggest land reclamation project ever for Boskalis
Royal Boskalis has received a Letter of Confirmation of Acceptance of Bid for the land development design and construction of the Manila International Airport (MIA) in the Philippines. The 1,700 ha land reclamation project in the Manilla Bay has an estimated value of 1,5 billion euro. This the biggest project in the history of the Dutch dredging company.
Growing air traffic
The Letter of Confirmation was issued by San Miguel Aerocity Inc (SMAI), a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation (SMC) and concession holder of the airport. Approximately 1,700 hectares of land will be developed for the new Manila International Airport, located around 20 kilometers north from the heart of Metro Manila.
The new international airport is a greenfield development aimed to address the growing air traffic demands in the Manila region and the congestion at the current airport.
Large dredging fleet
CEO Peter Berdowski of Royal Boskalis confirms the news of a project of this scale. ’We enthusiastically look forward to applying our know-how for the Manila International Airport land development. During the construction phase, we will contribute to the local economy and the new airport will bring further socio-economic growth to the greater Manila region.’
Berdowski adds:‘Through this project, we have secured the utilization for our large dredging vessels for the coming years.’
Workplan
The government of the Philippines has granted a 50-year concession to SMAI to build, operate and maintain the airport. The land development phase will be financed through a consortium of international banks.
For the dredging activities, which will span over a period of three years, Boskalis’ workplan and methodology includes measures to prevent soil liquefaction in the entire area through the use of dynamic compaction.
Preparatory work is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2021 with the land development project expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
Mega projects
The land reclamation for the new Manila airport is by far the biggest project for Royal Boskalis ever. The previous biggest order was the construction of a new LNG-harbour in Qatar. Boskalis acquired the Ras Laffan project in 2005 as part of a joint venture. The contract value for the Boskalis share was 900 million euro.
The Manila airport project follows another mega land reclamation project in the Manila Bay. In December 2019, Royal Boskalis won the contract for the construction of three artificial islands as part of the Pasay reclamation development project.
Due to the Covid pandemic, the construction of the Pasay islands has been delayed but Boskalis expects that the project will start in 2021.
