Binondo-Intramuros Bridge set for completion by Q4

MANILA: According to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar, the agency targets to complete the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was announced during the recent inspection of the two-way, four-lane bridge, which is set to become a new landmark in the City of Manila. 

He explained that the DPWH Unified Project Management Office-Roads Management Cluster 1 (UPMO-RMC 1) and the contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation, have taken the initiative to accelerate work progress to guarantee that the P3.39-billion project will reach completion by the fourth quarter of 2021. 

Once completed, the project is expected to help solve additional traffic of about 30,000 vehicles daily and reduce traffic congestion between Intramuros and Binondo. 

In addition, Sec. Villar said that the bridge project will prolong the life of the existing MacArthur, Delpan, and Jones bridges through traffic decongestion, which therefore lessens the cost requirements of bridge maintenance. 

Moreover, DPWH Undersecretary for UPMO Operations Emil Sadain stated that the overall progress of the initiative is at about 60 percent.

According to him, the 70-meter main bridge with support steel bowstring and steel arch is in the process of being pushed from Pier 4 to Pier 5. Removal of the temporary platforms will be done within two weeks to lower the main bridge to its final placement. 

The project entails the establishment of a basket-handle tied steel arch bridge having a total length of 680 lineal meters linking the historic district of Intramuros at Solana Street and Riverside Drive to the busy district of Binondo at Rentas Street/Plaza del Conde Street and Muelle dela Industria, which has a viaduct structure above Estero de Binondo. 

The design of the arch bridge, which represents the cooperation between China and the Philippines, is in accordance with climate-change specifications and new seismic design requirements.

A grant from China provides financial assistance for the construction and design of the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge, together with the ongoing Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge in Makati/Mandaluyong. This is regarded as the first-ever infrastructure project between the Chinese and the Filipinos under the current administration.

The bridge is expected to increase the efficiency and capacity of the road transport network in Metro Manila through additional routes and fixed links crossing the Pasig River. 

The initiative is part of the Metro Manila Logistics Improvement Program to handle the long-held concern of traffic gridlock in major roads through the construction of new bridges crossing the Manggahan Floodway, Pasig and Marikina Rivers.

Furthermore, DPWH-UPMO Operations is aiming for the completion of Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge, which links Mandaluyong and Makati, by the third quarter of 2021 and the Sta. Monica-Lawton Bridge, a part of the Bonifacio Global City (BGC)-Ortigas Center Link Project that connects the business districts of BGC in Taguig City and Ortigas in Pasig City. 

Photo from the Department of Public Works and Highways

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