The Department of Public Works and Highways is building a 32.15-kilometer bridge that will link and reduce travel time between Bataan and Cavite provinces to 30 minutes from six hours.
DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said the agency started the detailed engineering design activities for the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge Project that would be carried out in the next 15 months.
“This Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge Project will provide a permanent road linkage between the two provinces in Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog Region in order to reduce the journey time and ease traffic congestion through Metro Manila,” Villar said.
The project involves the construction of a 32.15-kilometer, four -lane (two lanes each direction) bridge from Barangay Alas-asin in Mariveles, Bataan, across Manila Bay, and to Barangay Timalan, Naic, Cavite.
Villar said that besides reducing travel time and vehicle operating costs, the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge Project would support economic expansion outside and lead to the development of seaports of Cavite and Bataan as premier international shipping gateway.
DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Management Office Operations Emil Sadain signed a memorandum of understanding on Oct. 20 for the P3.03-billion consulting services with the bid winning consultants procured by the Asian Development Bank.
The DED scheduled from November 2020 to January 2022 would be funded by an additional financing for the infrastructure preparation and innovation facility under a loan signed in December 2019 by the ADB and the Department of Finance.
Once the project is completed, the travel time between the two provinces would be reduced to 20 to 30 minutes with 60 kilometer-per-hour speed along the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge.
It involves the construction of two navigation bridges—the North Channel Bridge and South Channel Bridge—with main span of 400 meters and 900 meters, respectively.
The bridge project will have the following segments: Package 1 – Bataan Land Viaduct (5.04 km); Package 2 – Northern Marine Viaduct (8.0 km); Package 3 – Southern Marine Viaduct (12.6 km); Package 4 – Approach Viaducts to Northern and Southern Navigation Channel Bridges (2.6 km); Package 5 – Navigation Channel Bridges (2.6 km); Package 6 – Cavite Land Viaduct (1.31 km); and Package 7 – Ancillary Buildings. With Vito Barcelo
