Tuesday, April 08, 2008 (Philippines)

Still-unnamed first bridge at the Mactan-Cebu Channel (top) suffered last Sunday from its third accident (17 years ago, a Korean registered ship, mv Sanko Elegance, crippled it. (Sun.star file) STAKEHOLDERS of the two Mactan-Mandaue bridges are now coming up with measures to protect the structural soundness of the two links. These include installing rubber fenders and identifying possible alternative routes for vessels so accidents that could damage the bridges would be avoided. They agreed on the move after a barge and a tugboat hit a column of the first Mandaue-Mactan bridge last Sunday morning. The incident came barely three weeks after a vessel rammed one of the columns of the Marcelo B. Fernan (MBF) bridge. [full story]