DEPARTMENT of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark A. Villar announced that a new two-lane bridge across the Angat River in Bustos, Bulacan is about to be completed.
“We are now wrapping up the construction of the 1.12-kilometer Angat Bridge along the Plaridel Bypass Road,” said Villar.
The DPWH chief added that even with the challenges brought about by the pandemic, the P1.09-billion project, including the construction Bridge No. 9 with a length of 40 meters and one-kilometer road paving, continues to move forward.
With funding support from the Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), the 24-kilometer Plaridel Bypass Road has been fully linked in May 2018 to the North Luzon Expressway in Barangay Burol, Balagtas and Maharlika Highway in Barangay Maasim, San Rafael, Bulacan.
To fast-track the completion of the bridge project that will complement the widening of Plaridel Bypass Road from two lanes to four lanes, Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations Emil K. Sadain and Project Director Virgilio Castillo of DPWH UPMO Roads Management Cluster 1 held a meeting with Jica Senior Representative Kiyo Kawabuchi, Embassy of Japan in the Philippines Second Secretary Tomohiro Matsubara, and the joint venture contractor Shimizu-FF Cruz and the project consultants to thresh out issues in project implementation.
Sadain reported that in keeping with the target to complete by December 2020, the final concrete pouring of deck slab at end closure between pier 17 and 18 was held on Tuesday, October 20, 2020.
The new Angat Bridge, consisting of seven span pre-stressed concrete continuous box girders, is being built by balanced cantilever method on a bored piles foundation.
This new bridge and the additional two-lane roadway will address the future increase of traffic utilizing the Plaridel Bypass Road as an alternative route to the Maharlika Highway, Sadain said.
With about 15,000 vehicles diverted from the congestion of Maharlika Highway at the town proper of Plaridel, Pulilan and Baliuag, some section of Plaridel Bypass Road during late afternoon up to night time have already shown traffic build-up.