Intramuros bridge to open this year – Villar
DESPITE the coronavirus pandemic, the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge is on track to be completed this year, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar said on Monday.
The project involves the construction of a steel arch bridge that will connect the historic district of Intramuros and Manila’s old business district in Binondo.
The bridge will link Solana Street and Riverside Drive in Intramuros with Rentas Street/Plaza del Conde Street and Muelle dela Industria in Binondo. A viaduct structure will also be built on the Estero de Binondo.
The bridge design symbolizes the friendly cooperation between Philippines and China.
The structure conforms with the latest seismic design specifications and climate change considerations.
The construction of the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge and the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge in Makati/Mandaluyong are funded by a grant from China.
The Binondo-Intramuros Bridge will improve the capacity and efficiency of the road transport network in Metro Manila by providing additional fixed links and additional routes crossing the Pasig River.
Once completed, it will carry extra traffic of around 30,000 vehicles per day and ease the traffic congestion between Binondo and
Intramuros. It will also extend the life of existing Jones, Delpan and MacAthur bridges by decongesting traffic, thus reducing bridge maintenance cost requirements.
The project is part of the Metro Manila Logistics Improvement Program to address the long-held dilemma of traffic gridlock in major roads by constructing new bridges crossing Pasig and Marikina Rivers and Manggahan Floodway.
Villar said the DPWH Unified Project Management Office-Roads Management Cluster 1 (UPMORMC 1) and contractor China Road and Bridge Corp. sped up work to ensure the P3.39-billion project will be completed by the fourth quarter of this year.
Villar inspected the project on Thursday.
He said significant progress was observed in the construction of the two-way four-lane bridge, which will soon become a new iconic landscape in the city of Manila.
The project’s overall progress is about 60 percent.
Aside from the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge, the DPWH aims to finish the construction of the Estrella Pantaleon Bridge connecting Makati and Mandaluyong by the third quarter and Sta. Monica-Lawton Bridge, a component of the BGC-Ortigas Center Link Project connecting business districts of Ortigas and Bonifacio Global City.