MANILA, Philippines — The Binondo-Intramuros bridge project in Manila is 50 percent complete and may open seven months from now, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar said on Thursday.
He made the declaration as he inspected the progress of the four-lane 680-meter bridge with Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian, DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office operations Emil Sadain, and project director Virgilio Castillo of the DPWH-UPMO Roads Management Cluster 1.
”By September 2021, this attractive design of the arch bridge that symbolizes the friendly cooperation between China and the Philippines will become a new iconic landscape connecting the Binondo and Intramuros districts of Manila,” Villar said.
“Upon completion, it will carry extra traffic of around 30,000 vehicles per day and ease traffic congestion between Binondo and Intramuros,” he added.
The project and the replacement of the Makati-Mandaluyong bridge are funded by a P3.39-billion grant from the Chinese government.
Designed with the new seismic specifications and taking into consideration the impact of climate change, the project employed advanced construction methods such as the steel arch bridge assembly, pushing method and the bottom construction method of the boxed cofferdam and building a solid piling foundation, the DPWH said.