Bouygues Construction subsidiary VSL International is starting work on a 16km-long rail viaduct in the Philippines for a section of the 148km North-South Commuter Railway.

Worth over €100m to VSL, the contract covers the precasting and erection of the bridge’s 4,810 segments. VSL, which specialises in post-tensioned and cable-stayed concrete structures, will work from a dedicated precast yard covering some eight hectares.

Bouygues said in a press release today that VSL will set up 23 production units to keep pace with the needs of the precast cycles.

The viaduct deck will be constructed span by span using four launching girders at the same time to reduce the construction program.

Onsite works, which will involve more than 500 people at peak periods, will last for 30 months.

Co-funded by the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the long-planned North-South Commuter Railway will link the new business zone of New Clark City north of Manila to Calamba City south of the capital.

Multiple international contracting teams have won multiple phases of the railway. The one in question was awarded last year to Japan’s Taisei Corporation and the D.M. Consunji, Inc group (DMCI), of the Philippines, and runs from Malolos, north of Manila, to the Tutuban transit hub in the capital, according to a .