THE National Government is seeing the start of the construction of the cable-stayed bridge that will connect the provinces of Bataan and Cavite by the end of the year, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan said Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
In a press briefing in Malacañang, Bonoan said the detailed engineering design for the P175-billion worth Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge is already 70 percent complete and the groundbreaking for the project may already be done by the end of 2023.
The 32-kilometer, four-lane Cavite-Bataan bridge that will be built across Manila Bay will be composed of two big bridges: one measuring 400 meters and the other 900 meters.
The project, which is expected to be completed after five years, or within President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s term of office, is funded through official development assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Bonoan said the major infrastructure will significantly cut the travel time from Manila to Bataan from three hours to less than an hour which will positively impact the economic activity in Luzon and the entire country.
“So, with this bridge, I think, you will have better access, a more direct access between these two growth areas and significantly it will actually improve the economic development not only in Luzon but for the entire country,” he said.
“Malaki iyong benefits that have been derived. And no less than the Asian Development Bank has indicated that the economic rate of return of this bridge is more than 25 percent and that’s big, that’s really big,” Bonoan added.
From July to December 2022, Bonoan said about 1,500 kilometers of national and local road and 161 bridges were built and improved nationwide while 851 flood-control projects in flood-prone areas were undertaken.
He said the NLEX-SLEX connector from Caloocan to the Skyway Stage III, as well as a segment of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway will be inaugurated before Marcos holds his second State of the Nation Address in July. (SunStar Philippines)