China to build bridges in Manila, Makati

MANILA, Philippines - The Chinese government will construct two bridges crossing the Pasig River in Manila and Makati City, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said yesterday.

DPWH Secretary Mark Villar and Chinese embassy in Manila Economic and Commercial Counsellor Jin Yuan signed on Wednesday the minutes of discussion (MOD) for the full grant to finance the construction of the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge in Manila and the Estrella-Pantelon Bridge in the boundary of Makati and Mandaluyong. 

In a statement, the DPWH said that it was agreed that the grant would cover the design and construction of the bridges while the department would be responsible for the acquisition of its road right-of-way (RROW).

A Chinese project team earlier provided the DPWH with recommendations and technical assistance for the stages of project preparation, initiation and implementation.

“Based on the initial project design, Binondo-Intramuros Bridge will be constructed as a four-lane, steel bowstring arch bridge with inclined arches that will connect Intramuros through Solana Street and Riverside Drive to Binondo via San Fernando Street, with a viaduct.

“It will have a total length of 807 meters, composed of a 90-meter main bridge, 488-meter Binondo approach and 193-meter up ramp and 166-meter down ramp Intramuros approaches,” Villar said.

“The Estrella-Pantelon Bridge will also have four lanes, but will be a 560-meter twin spine steel box girder bridge with concrete deck slab. It will utilize the existing approaches at Makati City and Mandaluyong City sides, with modification on abutment and pier to accommodate the new bridge superstructure,” he added.