Bohol-Cebu ‘friendship bridge’ takes shape

TAGBILARAN CITY –Work on the Bohol-Cebu Friendship Bridge, a 24-kilometer-long chain of bridges and causeways that will link Getafe in Bohol with Cordova in Cebu will start construction this year, according to Bohol’s 2nd district representative Erico Aumentado.

Aumentado told Manila Bulletin the project’s feasibility study starts this year after it acquired funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

He said the study will take from six to 10 months. The bidding may be scheduled in 2019 and actual construction in 2020.

Undersecretary Rolando Tungpalan of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has informed Aumentado of the developments in the bridge project during his visit to NEDA last Saturday.

The congressman said he is confident the construction will push through because there were several pre-feasibility studies and consultations done during the incumbency of his father, Erico Aumentado, as Bohol governor and congressman.

He said his father had nicknamed the structure a “three-in-one” bridge because it will also carry cables to deliver more electricity from Cebu to Bohol, and a pipeline to bring potable water from Bohol to Cebu.

The study will comprise of pre-engineering work, that will be the basis for preparing the detailed engineering design (DED), Aumentado added.

Recently, former Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy, who is now Presidential Liaison adviser officer, also introduced studies made by his consultants incorporating a railway component into the bridge. This would bolster the string of endorsements the bridge has so far earned, Aumentado said.

He admitted that he has a soft spot for the project because it recognizes the efforts of his father.